Of Blood And Seals
by ForeverReading24
Summary: Time-Travel. The world has been taken over by Madara. When Naruto is captured, the Kyuubi is able to save him by sending them back to the past. Will Naruto be able to prevent the war from happening
1. Chapter 1

' _Come on Kurama. Just a little bit more._ ' Naruto pushed his friend, feeling a rush of the Kyuubi's chakra travel from his belly, where the seal was, down to his leg augmenting his already high speed.

' **That's all you're going to get for a while. That last just you used drained most of my chakra.** '

Nodding in understanding and thanks to the fox, he picked up his pace as much as he could while carrying an unconscious person, becoming a blur against the barren land.

He knew he was going to be in trouble as soon as he got back to the hide out. Naruto had ignored the agreement he and the few shinobi that managed to escape made— not go confront Madara until they had an actual plan that wouldn't get them killed in the process, but no-o, Naruto had taken it upon himself to scout what exactly they would be up against besides Madara himself and the god tree where all of his friends were sleeping, trapped in the genjutsu. Even knowing he would be punched until close to death by Sakura-chan, he took it upon himself to be the first one to go in case of traps. Truth be told though, he didn't want to see another comrade die; he _wouldn't_ lose anyone else. They had buried enough friends as it was.

Five years had passed already since the beginning of the war and their numbers were diminishing one by one, as if they were fruits and the Uchiha was waiting for the exact second they became ripe to pluck them off of the tree and eat them hole, not leaving anything.

Naruto had even had to train a group of genin and prepare them to fight. It hadn't mattered to anyone else what he thought bout the case; he had ended up saddled with the kids. That had been the last order Tsunade-baachan gave him before she too suffered the same fate as the majority of them and became food for that demonic thing.

He took the order to heart and taught the kids everything he knew as best as he could under the circumstances, protecting them as best as he could at the same time. In the end, all of his efforts hadn't mattered. His team had been butchered by the Juubi's jinchuuriki, who found it extremely amusing to deliver the genie's bodies personally and watch as Naruto lost himself in rage and sorrow, and hurl himself at Madara only to be restrained by Sasuke, Sakura, and Shikamaru, who reminded him if he went outside of the cave there would be no seals to prevent the Uchiha from killing him, killing the Nara in the process because he would follow and do his damnedest to protect his Hokage.

Naruto had directed all his killing intent at his long-time friend, almost choking him in the process. How dare Shikamaru talk to him like that? Didn't he understand just how precious those kids had been to him? How much they had meant?

Exhaling, taking back control over himself, he knew that that wasn't it. Shikamaru understood him better than anyone for he too had had to take a genin team. The kids had met their deaths by the hand of Kabuto.

Kabuto. Just thinking about that name made a growl erupt from Naruto's chest. He couldn't wait to get his hands on the _snake_. Even if it was the last thing he did, he would make the spy pay for all his crimes.

Snapping himself back to the task at hand, Naruto focused on getting back to the cave that had become their Headquarters almost three years ago. Less than a minute left of running and he would be inside it, protected. Already he could feel the humming and pulsing of chakra calling to him from within the seals he had carved at each side of the mouth of the cave.

Those two seals were his pride and joy, they only thing able to repel Madara and the power of the Bijuu. It had taken him the longest time to finally find a way for the Shinobi Allegiance (those who still remained) to survive, but done it he had. Now everyone could sleep without fear of been attacked and killed when they least expect it.

Feeling the immediate shift in the air as he crossed the barrier, it became easier to breathe; the air was clean, unlike outside which was foul with the scent of blood and death.

"Hi everyone! I'm back!" He called into the darkness. The echo of his greeting was the only answer he got for a split-second.

"NARUTO!" Was all the warning he had before the pink haired kunoichi came barreling towards him from a side room with the unmistakable intent to kill.

Only years of fighting and honing his reflexes allowed the blond to expertly dodge a chakra enhanced punch that had been aimed at his middle.

"Shikamaru! Stop her!" Squealed Naruto, dodging a well-placed kick to his family jewels.

He only heard a muttered "Troublesome" before Sakura stopped going after him, frozen in place by the black haired genius' shadow mimic jutsu.

"Let me go, Shikamaru. I'm going to kill him" The venom coating each word made the two males flinch — making Sakura flinch as well.

"Ne, ne, Sakura-chan you wouldn't really kill me"

"How would you know, you idiot!" Countered the pinkette, shooting fire from her eyes. "You were gone for almost three hours. We were ready to go after you—" A sob escaped her, braking off the rant. Closing her emerald eyes, she took deep calming breaths before opening them again, pinning her teammate with their intensity. "Do you have any idea how worried we were?"

Hanging his head low, ashamed of himself and what he put his friends through, Naruto opened his mouth but no words came out. Clearing his throat, he tried again; only to have a lame "Sorry" escape his parted lips, making him wince.

Awkward silence descended in the dimply-lit cave as the longtime friends refused to say anything else.

An almost inaudible sigh escaped from Shikamaru's lips, followed by a mumbled "Troublesome" when it became obvious after a few seconds that neither teammate was going to talk.

Deciding to turn their attention to something else, the Nara asked curious, "Who do you have there, Naruto?" He had immediately taken notice of the bundle cradled protectively in his friend's arms, surprised that Sakura hadn't noticed it at all but she had focused all of her attention on the blond not on what he was carrying.

Round eyes met his own and, if Shikamaru didn't know any better, he would've bet Naruto had completely—

"Eh!" Cerulean eyes snapped down, widening before letting out a dry chuckle, "Oh, forgot about that", before returning to his dark ones.

—Forgotten about it.

The echo of two palms meeting two foreheads echoed through the cave.

"Na-ru-to," Sakura groaned out.

Embarrassed, said guy's face went up in flames.

"Shikamaru, you can let go of me" Came the order, "I'm calm now"

As he watched his dark haired Jonin Commander shrug before releasing his jutsu, Naruto prepared to start dodging blows again if Sakura decided she wasn't ready to forgive him just yet.

When she made no movement other than cross her arms over her chest and raise an eyebrow that said 'are you going to explain or what?', he took a deep breath and told them what happened: how he left a Kage Bunshin in his place and sneaked out of the cave hiding his chakra; running all the way to the god tree; cutting out a person from one of the roots of the tree before racing back to the cave. He left out the part about the fight with Madara. Technically, he wasn't lying to his friends he just wanted to work out the details of the confrontation by himself before sharing. After all the man had let him go before doing any major damage to Naruto. Was Madara that confident that one more person in the Allegiance's ranks wouldn't affect him one way or another?

He didn't realize he started frowning until Sakura smacked him across the head. Thank Kami she had refrained from using chakra otherwise he doubted he would still be standing.

Unwrapping the cape — his cape — he had thrown over the body to protect it from the harsh elements, Naruto gazed between his two companions bubbling with the thrill he was sure they would express once they took a good look at who the blond ninja had brought back.

But the shouts of joy never came.

Puzzled at Shikamaru and Sakura's reaction, he slowly moved his eyes down at the body, blue gaze resting on the face that should have been his comrade's.

Yelling at the top of his lungs, he let go, throwing himself back colliding with the wall, eyes glued to the white body of the Zetsu clone on the ground.

A sigh, "You failed again, Naruto" Pain spread through his chest, his breathing hitched. Cerulean snapped to the green, empty eyes of Sakura.

Naruto opened his mouth to say something — anything — but he couldn't. Even after everything, he had failed. Now he understood why Madara had let him go; the Uchiha was probably laughing at him.

"Good for nothing" Whipping around, this time he faced his dark haired friend.

"S- Shikamaru?"Never had the Nara said anything like that to him. The sick feeling rolling in the pit of his stomach doubled.

"You promised to bring Sasuke back to the village. Alive. But look at us now, you couldn't protect him." The pinkette took a step, bringing herself closer to her teammate, a sneer distorting her face.

"It wasn't like that Sakura-chan!" Please don't look at me with those eyes! The blond pleaded internally. He couldn't stare that dead stare that gazed through him, never acknowledging him.

"You couldn't save anyone. You promised you would save us, but you let us all die."

Naruto's vision blurred with used tears, "No. No, no, no, no" His breathing escalating until all that kept him standing was the wall behind him.

The world started spinning in an out of focus, like waves at the beach, making it unable for him to make out the shape of Sakura and Shikamaru coming closer to stand right in front of him.

Breath in. Breathe out.

With that chant in his head, Naruto made the effort to steady his erratic heart. No matter the words that were thrown at him, he would ignore them. These were two of the people he had grown up with and had been fighting alongside of for five long years. The real them wouldn't do that to him.

Naruto didn't see them move, but suddenly both of his 'friends' were on top of him, restraining him. He didn't know where they got them from but objects that appeared to be kunais were been pulled from the blond's stomach; blood dripping down onto his body.

They stabbed him.

"W- Why?" Wide-eyed with his blood feeling like ice, Naruto couldn't stare away from the two holes in his stomach, determined to hear an explanation.

None came. Instead, he felt agony like nothing he had ever experienced previously.

Blood curling screams were the last thing he heard before everything faded.

* * *

It was cold.

Really, really cold.

Frowning at the lack of warmth, Naruto tried to wrap his arms around his exposed chest to shoo the chill away, but to his great aggravation, his limbs wouldn't comply.

… That was weird.

' **You're finally awake** '

Naruto was pulled into his mindspace, where a heavily panting and clearly exhausted overgrown fox waited for him.

' _Kurama?_ ' He had never seen his partner look as thoroughly worked out as he did now.

' **That Madara caught us in his genjutsu** '

Well that explained why Sakura and Shikamaru had attacked him.

' _Did he catch us in the Infinite Tsukoyomi?_ '

' **No** ' Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding at the fox's answer. However, any hope he had left was crushed by Kurama's next words, ' **He's waiting for you to get up to extract me** '

His heart sank to his stomach. This hadn't gone how he had wanted to at all.

The plan had been to just gather information. That was it, but then he had sensed a very feint but familiar chakra making him unable to turn back and leave before first checking it out. He had taken precautions — by Kami he had — he was the last hope the Shinobi Allegiance had of defeating Madara. Especially after Bee…

No, he wouldn't think about it right now. Shaking his head to dispel the images of Bee's mangled, bloody body. Naruto focused back on the task at hand. Even though he had been careful, he had still been captured. It was the worst-case scenario.

With narrowed red eyes, Kurama read his partner's every emotion. As the years passed the gaki had gotten relatively good at hiding what he was feeling, but the fox could still tell what was going through in the kid's mind. In fact, there was no other being who knew Naruto as well as he did and that bond had only gotten stronger with the war. So it didn't come as a surprise when the blond finally met his gaze to find regret, sorrow, and hopelessness.

' **You're bleeding out as we speak** ' It came out more angry than anything, mostly due to the fact that the Kyuubi could not accept he had been trapped in a genjutsu without realizing it.

Naruto's shoulders dropped. There was no getting out of this one. He couldn't see a way out of it. Even if Kurama healed him, most of his chakra was gone from the fight, so was the fox's. Try as he may, he couldn't see a way out of this one; at least, not one where they survived.

A low growl echoed through the mindspace making Naruto jump, blue eyes snapping to red ones.

' **Don't you dare give up now, Naruto. Not after everything we've been through. I'll eat you if you do and take over your body.** ' The Kyuubi snarled menacingly at his host.

Even though the situation was grim, the blond let out a snicker. It had been a long time since his companion had last threatened to take over and — as ridiculous as it sounded — brought forth memories of a happier, better time.

Kurama smirked, congratulating himself. Now he only needed to get them out of this mess.

' **There is a way we can get out of this** ' He said slowly, not wanting to freak out his host. But of course, it was Naruto. He should have known better.

' _WHAT?! Why didn't you say anything sooner you stupid fox?!_ '

Eyes narrowed dangerously at he outburst, ' **Naruto** '

' _Eck_ ' Rubbing the back of his head, he threw the Kyuubi an apologetic glance, ' _Sorry, Kurama. I got really excited._ '

The fox suppressed a snort. He could feel the anticipation and hope roll off like waves out of the boy (the kid was shaking from it); see the light that came to his eyes making them look more alive than they had since the Hyuuga sacrificed his life for Naruto's. It made the old bijuu feel lighter waiting what was to come.

' _So…? What do we have to do?_ ' The blond asked, exasperated when his furry companion didn't say anything.

Giving his partner one last, long look, Kurama grumbled, ' **Draw the seal you've been working on your skin. We don't want the Uchiha following us where we are going.** '

Confusion crossed Naruto's eyes, 'The seal—? Oh! You mean the Time-Space seal?' The puzzlement disappeared, giving way to a small smile. ' _Where exactly are we going?_ ' He couldn't resist asking.

' **The past, Kit** ' Kurama gave his own answering smirk, showing pointed canines, but turning serious again after a second. ' **You better hurry. The longer you take, the more blood you'll lose and I can't heal you if we're going to do the jutsu.** '

Without wasting more time, Naruto set out to do exactly what the fox told hi. Biting his index finger, he used the blood to write the seal on his left hand — one of the places in his body he could reach without difficulty. Good thing he had practiced drawing the intricate lines on more than one occasion.

After a few minutes more, the seal that would change the present, as they knew it was almost done. The blond was just drawing the finishing touches when Kurama straightened, growling low.

' **He's out there** '

Naruto froze for a split-second before resuming his work, looking over the seal with a critical eye, trying to find any mistakes or imperfections, but finding none.

' _The seal is ready_ ' He informed a stone still fox.

' **I'll infuse it with my chakra. You concentrate on sending everything you have here too** ' No sooner were the words said than Naruto doubled over, clutching his stomach as all breath left him in a _whoosh_.

He barely heard what Kurama said before he was violently taken from his mindspace into reality (or rather hell, as he was prone to call it nowadays).

"You finally woke up, Kyuubi." The sinister calm voice that Naruto had come to hate more than anything was the first thing the blond heard as the mental fog receded.

Blinking the pain away, he kept a steady gaze on the ground. The last thing he needed — or wanted — was to fall pray to another genjutsu and not even realize it.

He was standing. Both arms and legs pulled apart forming an 'X' secured by wood; no doubt Madara used the power gained from the Shodai Hokage's cells.

It was the hardest thing, but Naruto held his tongue, straining against the restrains, but to no avail. The branches were tightly secured around his limbs, digging into the skin. Rage and hatred so deep and strong cursed through his vein consuming him, leaving no pore or cell in his body able to do anything other than wish for revenge; to clamor the death of this man who had taken everything from him everything he held dear. Hinata, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-baachan, Gaara, Lee, Guy, Tenten, Kiba, Shino, Sai, Oonoki-jiji, Raikage-jiji, Yamato-taicho, Genma, Raido, Izumo and Kotetsu, and many others. No matter how many times he wounded the man or even killed him, Naruto would never be satisfied.

"Do you want to kill me, Kyuubi?" Amusement coated every word the former Edo Tensei zombie spoke.

"I would be lying if I said I didn't," Sneered the blond jinchuuriki at his captor.

Sandal clad feet entered his field of vision, but he kept a tight leash over his emotions (or at least as tight as he could manage), refusing to let his enemy get the best of him even when the devil himself was tempting him.

"Why don't you join me?" The Uchiha's tone had changed, taking on a hypnotic quality, "I could give you everything you want. Everything you wish for." Against his will and better judgment, Narrator found himself listening, leaning into the unspoken promise in the voice to take the pain away, to make everything better. "If you only give yourself over to the Jubii."

… Now that was just a deal breaker.

' **I'm ready whenever you are, Kit** '

With the last of his willpower, Naruto breathed, "Sorry, but nothing beats real bonds." In his mindspace the last thing he heard himself say was, ' _Do it, Kurama!_ ' Before everything went black.

* * *

It was another boring, uneventful day of doing paperwork, giving out mission and reading reports for Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. Even though he had already finished going through a stack, it seemed as if the white mountains on his desk didn't diminish at all. With a heavy sigh, he resigned himself to his fate and grabbed another paper to read, which he promptly let go of once he heard the thundering footsteps approaching his office.

Seconds later, a knock sounded from his door, to which he answered with an "Enter"

A slightly out of breath, agitated Kotetsu barged into the office. Hiruzen straightened in his chair. He had never seen the chunin look anything but relaxed. And he had come to the Hokage without Izumo! Something bad must had definitely happened for the man to come here without his partner.

"Hokage-sama" The chunin bowed before rushing into the report. "A black haired, black eyed male roughly between eighteen and twenty-three years old approached the gate five minutes ago. We didn't let him through since he had no paper, but then he demanded an audience with you, Hokage-same. And I'd say he's in critical condition, he is bleeding from several wounds"

A frown appeared on Hiruzen's face, deepening the wrinkles in his face. Something wasn't right. A young man with dark hair and eyes with heavy injuries; it seemed like the rest of the day wasn't going to be so boring. Without wasting anymore time, the Hokage stood and shunshin'd to the Konoha gate, leaving Kotetsu and his ANBU to follow behind him.

The first thing Hiruzen saw was their new captive tied to a tree, his head hanging low over his chest. The clothes he was wearing were tattered and burnt, barely held together by a few treads in some places. Blood pooled under the man; the ragged breathing he heard as well as the exposed wounds were testament enough that he needed medical attention. Fast.

Narrowed eyes spotted Izumo a few feet away from the prisoner, who bowed low to his Hokage.

Addressing his ANBU's team leader, Hiruzen snapped orders. For some reason his gut was telling him he couldn't let this young man die.

"Taka, bring a medic-nin as fast as possible and have the hospital prepare one of the most secure rooms. And send for Yamanaka Inoichi. Have him meet us at the hospital."

Without waiting to see if his orders were being followed, he shunshin'd to the hospital, the rest of his guards milliseconds behind him.

* * *

The silence in the room was broken by a low groan from the young man tightly bound to the bed.

Hiruzen's eyes snapped to the face of the boy who had miraculously recovered in less time than any normal shinobi; a face he knew very well, but belonged to a kid. As soon as the chakra sealing seals were put on the prisoner, the henge had dropped, revealing brilliant blond hair and three whisker marks on each cheek; Hiruzen would even bet the man's eyes were blue. But that was just not possible. He had sent an ANBU to confirm the location of Uzumaki Naruto within the village and had the medic compare their blood, treating all this as an SS-rank secret. If his suspicions were correct, then everything would change. For better or worse, he didn't know, but he was sure the blond would need help.

The ANBU had returned claiming the kid was at the Academy; no later did the medic return with the results. They matched. Somehow, Uzumaki Naruto had come back in time and Hiruzen would bet it would cause a lot of trouble.

* * *

Naruto was in pain His head was killing him and he could barely feel the rest of his body. He tried opening his eyes, but the light above was blinding, so he hastily closed them again. Maybe Kurama would help him get rid of the pain, but said fox didn't answer when the blond called him. Naruto knew better by now than to panic; this always happened whenever the fuzzball was suffering from severe chakra exhaustion.

Everything had gone according to what Kurama had told him. They had popped up right outside of Konoha and had quickly used a henge to change his appearance (he wasn't sure about what year it was, but if he knew one thing it was that it wouldn't do to freak everyone out by looking like a grown Naruto, even though that was exactly who he was) before demanding from a startled Izumo and Kotetsu to see the Hokage before passing out.

It had been quite the shock to see those two alive and kicking, but he had recovered quickly. After all, they already suspected him it wouldn't do him any good to have them realize he had been gaping at them.

"I see you're awake already"

Cerulean eyes snapped open in shock, recognizing the voice he hadn't heard in almost ten years.

"Jiji" Naruto chocked out, wanting to see the man to whom that voice belonged to, but as he tried to move, he found his extremities didn't want to cooperate with him.

"Don't move, Naruto, your body still hasn't recovered completely"

With a stiff nod, the blond stopped struggling, settling back on the bed. The peace, however, didn't last long as Naruto started spluttering, just realizing what the Sandaime said.

"You— You know" Naruto whispered, a mix of horror and wonder palpable in his voice.

The Hokage moved into his field of vision, allowing the blond to gaze onto the familiar face, maybe a year or two younger than he remembered but still old.

A small, fond smile pulled on Hiruzen's lips, deepening the wrinkles around his eyes as he gazed down at the (almost) copy of Minato. He had been right; the kid shunned by the villagers had managed to travel back in time. This was a story the Sandaime desperately wanted to hear.


	2. Chapter 2

He had been awake for a while now staring at the unfamiliar ceiling in his new apartment on the soft new unfamiliar bed, replaying in his mind the events from yesterday.

After telling Sarutobi about the war against Madara, the old man resigned himself to the truth —that the blond indeed came from the future—, asking for the events that lead to that point, but didn't want to know exactly everything that was going to happen in the years to come. So the Sandaime only knew that Suna (along with Orochimaru; this cause great distress for the elder as he still harbored a little hope for his fallen student) would attack during the Chunin Exams after Naruto graduated from the Academy; that the mercenary organization Akatsuki was going to (he didn't know if they had started already) collect the Bijuus, extracting them from their hosts; Naruto — no, it was Kazuki now. He had to get used to the new name — had also told him about all of their abilities: from Kakuzu's five hearts, Hidan's immortality, the truth about Sasori's body, Deidara's love for explosions, Zetsu's dual personalities, Kisame's ability to fuse with his sword, Konan's origami, and the Six Paths of Pein. All of their jutsus included, of course. The blond hesitated when it came to sharing information about Tobi though. It wasn't because he didn't trust the Hokage. Far from it, he trusted the old man with his life, but Tobi wasn't someone he could talk about just yet. At least now until he figured out how to make him a good guy again, preferably before the war this time.

The guy had switched sides, betraying Madara and helping to save Kazuki in more than one occasion. Kazuki would make sure this time around the raven-haired man changed before the war.

Nothing that the blond had skipped or forgotten (though that wasn't likely) one person, the Hokage asked what he could tell him about Itachi. With hardened, narrowed eyes that darkened to a deep blue from the turbulent emotions underneath the surface, Kazuki proceeded to tell him everything he knew about the hero Uchiha Itachi. That the Sandaime didn't like at all what he said about Danzo in the process counted as a big plus in the blond's book. Maybe this time the old man wouldn't underestimate as much the old war hawk. If Kazuki had a say in it, he would have already executed the man, preventing a lot of pain.

Nevertheless, Inoichi's arrival stopped the conversation before the blond could go into detail about torture methods from Kumo that could be tested on the elder — they had to know if those methods were a fluke or if they actually gave results in Kabuki's humble opinion. To the blond's relief (he wasn't ready to share his memories with anyone just yet), the interrogator was sent away before he could even get close to the door leading into Kazuki's room with the excuse that the Sandaime had made a mistake. In the blond's eyes, that was only going to raise eyebrows especially with how quickly Sarutobi had moved, calling his ANBU to intercept the interrogator before he got too close. The Hokage waved his concern away saying "an old man is bound to make mistakes sometimes," which had the blond rolling his eyes.

After that, the Sandaime removed the chakra binding and paralysis seals, allowing Kazuki to move freely. And the blond had every intention of moving, tired of been cooped up in the room, but the old man stopped him, informing him that just because he recovered faster than anyone didn't mean his wounds had completely healed; the blond wasn't covered in bandages for nothing. Definitely not pouting, Kazuki settled back on the bed.

He had been made to stay in the Hospital that day, to Kazuki's irritation. An ANBU kept guard, but he might as well have been alone for all the masked man talked. He knew he could've made the shadow laugh if he wanted to, but the blond preferred the silence to process everything that had happened so far. He was in the PAST. Just how awesome was that?! His friends were still alive, Jiji was still the Hokage, and Konoha was still standing. If he did things right he wouldn't just be able to save the Sandaime, but Itachi, and… Jiraiya.

Just thinking about his old mentor and godfather, who was more like a father to him, made Kazuki's eyes sting with unshed tears. Tears he hadn't been able to cry since before the war started. Shutting his eyes, he willed the tears away with the thought ' _They're alive. This time I won't let a single one of them die_ '.

With renewed strength and purpose, Kazuki jumped out of the too-soft bed, pushing locks of crimson hair out of his eyes as he reached for a black turtleneck shirt to wear. The Sandaime had provided anything he thought the former blond might need: from clothes to food and weapons. Kazuki was thankful, that meant he only had minor shopping to do.

In order to keep his identity a secret, the Hokage and Kazuki had agreed that the later would wear a henge at all times. As a tribute to his mother, shaggy golden locks were exchanged for blood red ones; whisker marks were also hidden, leaving smooth skin.

Once changed, the redhead cooked himself breakfast before putting the kunais, senbons, and shuriken (probably by ANBU) on his coffee table in his pouch; he needed to go buy sealing paper and ink after training, he thought with a grimace. Even though Konoha was at peace right now it didn't hurt to be prepared for anything.

Before going to the training grounds, he first stopped at the memorial stone. There were things he needed to say to his loved ones.

* * *

For the past thirteen years Kakashi had visited the memorial stone, no one had ever been there before him. Most of the ones who visited always did so later in the day, so it came as a great surprise to find someone already there, taking his spot. However, that wasn't the only thing that caught the jonin's attention, but the fact that he had never seen anyone with hair so red around Konoha. At least not since his sensei's wife…

"I came back guys." Kakashi's lone eye snapped back to the person who talked, words too cheerful for someone who was visiting a fallen comrade. Confused, the copy-nin inched closer, almost leaving his hiding spot behind some bushes but still keeping to the shadows. True to his suspicious nature, the first thing that crossed the silver haired jonin's mind was ' _is the redhead a missing-nin? Is that why he's saying he came back?_ ' But dismissed it immediately. There was no way a missing-nin would be hanging around Konoha with no one noticing him and reporting him to the Hokage, especially with how the redhead wasn't trying to stay out of sight. With the hair, Kakashi doubted the guy would be very successful, but if there was one thing he had learned was to not underestimate his opponents. Judging from the guy's relaxed posture (his hands hidden in his pockets), the intruder probably thought he was safe — though the jonin had seen ninjas change their demeanor in less than the blink of an eye — meaning he hadn't noticed Kakashi spying on him. If there was one thing the ex-ANBU prided himself in were his sneaking skills. He had to be excellent at hiding to carry out assassination missions after all.

Just to be safe, he went through the Bingo book in his head, but couldn't remember a single ninja with such eye-catching hair color (except Uzumaki Naruto, but the kid had bright yellow hair not crimson). Maybe he wasn't in the Bingo book? Was such a thing possible? Only if the person wasn't a treat, the jonin mused.

"Well, I better get going and get some training out of the way," Said the guy, stifling a yawn but failing spectacularly. "The Sandaime will probably have me running around completing missions soon" The copy-nin had to fight an eye-roll and a snicker from the guy's resigned tone. However, the ex-ANBU wasn't prepared for what happened next.

The red-haired male looked over his shoulder, blue eyes locking on the spot where Kakashi was, freezing him in place and loudly called out, "You can come out now. I'm done here" Without waiting for a reply, he disappeared in a puff of smoke and leafs.

After a minute, Kakashi still crunched low between the bushes trying to wrap his head around what just happened. First of all, the guy shouldn't have been able to sense him. At all. The jonin had mastered masking his presence since a young age and knew sensors had trouble pinpointing his exact location, unless the redhead was a very talented sensor. Second, when the guy — probably around twenty years old — turned his head Kakashi could've sworn he was looking at his deceased sensei. The only difference was the eye color (not to mention the hair). Minato-sensei's were a deep royal blue while the redhead's were cerulean.

Stepping out of his hiding place, the jonin promised in front of the memorial to be back later. Right now, he needed to see the Hokage. There was no way in hell this person was a Konoha shinobi and Kakashi had never seen him before, especially with how much he looked like Minato-sensei. With one last look at the stone, he too disappeared in a puff of smoke and leafs.

* * *

Kazauki was punching himself. Literally. He had arrived at training ground seven and the first thing he did was create a shadow clone to spar with.

So far, the shadow clone had gotten a few good punches in while he was struggling to concentrate on the fight. How could he though? Kakashi-sensei had been a few meters away and alive!

The last time the new redhead had seen the man was when the copy-nin sacrificed himself to let them escape. The man had died a hero and seeing him about again felt like a bucket full of ice-water had been thrown over Kazuki's head, but it only cemented his resolve: He would not let the man die again.

It took his everything to keep himself relaxed and not react when he sensed the jonin's presence so near. He had slipped (and though the first thing he had wanted to do was launch himself to the man's arms, bawl his eyes out, and ask for forgiveness for not being able to save everyone, for letting Sasuke die, for not being strong enough) and had allowed his sensei to see his face. In his defense, he had really wanted to see the jonin, but now that he had confirmed the silver haired man was alive and well, Kazuki thought it would be a good idea to request a long term mission far away from Konoha. Starting right now preferably.

There was just no way Kakashi was going to live him alone. He had known the guy for a good eight years; it was a fact the copy-nin could not leave a mystery unsolved, _especially if it involved a never before seen ninja walking around the village_ , thought Kazuki irritably. Just why didn't he remember his sensei made a habit of visiting the memorial at odd hours?

A punch to the gut left him gasping for air, but jumped out of the way of the next punch, landing a good distance away from the clone, which was looking at him with a knowing, sly smirk. Damn shadow clone thinking it could get the best of him.

Pushing chakra to his legs, Kazuki rushed to the clone, aiming a kick to the side, which was deflected, following with a punch to the face. Snapping its head back, the clone retaliated aiming kicks, punches, and elbows at its original.

They were evenly matched, even after an hour of taijutsu. That was to be expected since the crimson haired ninja was used to fighting for longer periods of time. Deciding to step up his game, he jumped away, back flipping and landing on his feet, going through seals at lighting fast speed before calling out.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)"

The clone evaded the attack, but Kazuki anticipated this and ran behind the fireball, surprising his opponent, a punching sending it flying. Twisting in midair, it landed on its feet, calling out:

"Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)"

Oh shit.

Without using handseals a clone pooped into existence where the real Kazuki had been taking the damage of the jutsu and throwing a shiruken at the opponent clone, which it deflected with a shrunken of its own, saying again "Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)"

As it sent the blast to the waiting redhead, the shuriken, which had landed a few feet behind the opponent clone, transformed back into Kazuki, who placed a kunai against the shadow clone's neck.

"I win,"

In a puff of smoke both clones dispelled. Kazuki let out a chuckle as he felt the annoyance directed at him from the memories of the clone that lost.

"WOW! THAT WAS AWESOME DATTEBAYO!"

The redhead froze, cursing himself for not paying attention to his surroundings. He had let himself be caught off guard by a mere kid!

With barely a second to brace himself, Kazuki gave his full attention to the bright orange-clad blond who was looking at him with practically stars shooting out of his blue eyes.

* * *

This chapter took me a long time to write and, even now, I'm not entirely happy with how the 'fighting scene turned out'.

Sorry it was isn't as long as the previous chapter.

Also thank you for the reviews! Really appreciate it :)


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto didn't know what to do for the rest of the day. He should've been at the Academy taking some class (he hadn't paid enough attention to remember which one) but like usual, he had been kicked out of it. He hadn't done anything dattebayo! The blond should've seen it coming though. Whenever Iruka-sensei wasn't there, the sensei who replaced the scarred man would always make him leave; it didn't even matter he hadn't pulled a prank on the replacement! It was frustrating how much they seemed to hate him for no reason. Okay, so he wasn't the perfect student like Sakura-chan or Sasuke-teme, and he had pulled a few pranks on the sensei's lounge over the years, but that didn't give them a reason to look at him with those eyes. Eyes filled with so much hate as if telling him to disappear or die. He hadn't done anything to deserve it dattebayo! The other kids had done worse - and on the sensei's face too! -, but they had never once been made to leave the classroom. Instead, they only got a warning to 'settle down' and 'don't do that again'. It wasn't fair -ttebayo. It didn't just happen at the Academy either, but everywhere he went, to the point that he spent most of the time alone away from both civilians and ninja just to get away from the stares and name calling - except for when he pulled pranks. He would make them regret treating him like that. He didn't know how but Uzumaki Naruto was going to make them acknowledge him as more than the 'Demon Child'; he would become the greatest ninja ever and everyone in the village would look up to him -ttebayo!

The sudden excitement he felt at the thought of been recognized by everyone was soon replaced by dread when he remembered the one -and very obvious- flaw in his plans: how was he going to become Hokage if he couldn't do a single bunshin to graduate?

No, no, he would get it right this time around; there was no reason to panic. He had to pass. Passing the exam meant the start of the road to make his dream come true and no one, not even Sasuke-teme, would dare to look down on him once he achieved it.

With newfound resolution, Naruto made his way to the training grounds. He only had three days before the test to get the Bunshin no Jutsu right. In his mind, he could already see the shocked expression on Iruka-sensei's face when the man called the blond's name and Naruto made an exact copy of the chunin.

Snickering at the image, the kid came to an abrupt stop when he saw the place where he usually trained (or planned his pranks) was already occupied. He didn't know how he hadn't heard the noise from the fight, especially as one of the redheads called out.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)"

A massive ball of fire, bigger than anything Naruto had ever seen, was blown at the other ninja.

"Fuuton Diatoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)" The wind was so strong that even though he was behind the guy who used the jutsu it still made him land on his butt. However, he didn't take his wide eyes from the fight (he had never seen anything like it!), not even when the second wind jutsu was thrown. Though his eyes were screaming at him to blink, Naruto was sure he would miss something if he looked away for even a second. Sure enough, less than thirty seconds later, redhead #1 had redhead #2 at kunai point, who disappeared in a puff of smoke, making Naruto realize the ninja had been fighting against a Bunshin the whole time. Now the blond really wanted to master that technique; he didn't know he could use the jutsu like that!

First thing's first though, he had never seen that ninja before. Ever. And here Naruto thought he had had every single ninja from the village chasing after him because of his pranks (hehe). It was kind of a let down for the kid to be honest; he was proud of his accomplishment and now this guy came out of nowhere and completely messed up his score! But, he had to admit the redhead was pretty cool using jutsu like that. Without another though Naruto stepped into the training ground, bent on telling the stranger exactly what he thought about the fight and discover who he was - heck, maybe the guy could train him!

"WOW! THAT WAS AWESOME DATTEBAYO!"

Slowly, the man turned, giving Naruto the first good look at his face. The redhead was young with hair that reached just above his shoulders; he was handsome, Naruto had to give him, but the deep purplish bags under his eyes made him look older and wary. He was wearing the same clothes Naruto had seen every other ninja wear except the man didn't have a flack jacket or hitai-ate, but that didn't stop the kid. For some reason he _needed_ this stranger to know whom he was.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to be the next Hokage dattebayo!" He exclaimed, pumping a fist up in the air.

Something passed over the ninja's eyes, but it was gone in a second, changed by another emotion making it hard for the kid to decipher.

"Say, I've never seen you around here. Who are you?" Naruto asked after a few seconds, letting his hands fall to his sides. Surely, if the guy was from the village he would've seen the redhead before, but he didn't remember ever meeting him.

The man's eyes - blue, Naruto noticed, like his own - focused back on the blond, who was taken aback by the sudden chuckle the ninja let out.

"You haven't seen me before cause I haven't been here before," The guy's voice was deep and smooth, he noticed. However, what truly shocked the kid was the extended hand. "Name's Harada Kazuki. Pleasure to meet you, Naruto"

Was the guy - _Kazuki_ \- expecting him to touch his hand? Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. No one had _ever_ extended a hand to greet him; no one wanted anything to do with him once they saw the blond hair and marks on his face. He was hallucinating, right? There was no way this stranger was offering to touch him willingly and it wasn't a punch or a slap! He couldn't remember the last time someone, other than Jiji, had touched him. But here was this man, extending his hand to shake as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

Kazuki must have felt as if Naruto didn't want to shake his hand because he started to let it fall back to his side. In a bout of nerves, the kid the hand up with both of his, holding onto them for dear life, not wanting to give the man a reason not to like him, like the rest of the village. If Kazuki found him weird in any way or the hands that were grabbing his holding on too tightly, he didn't say anything. Instead, he gave a nervous chuckle, making Naruto's heart soar. He hadn't done anything wrong after all! However, that feeling turned to disappointment when he registered what Kazuki had said.

"Does that mean you aren't from here, Kazuki-san?" The sadness in his voice was unmistakable; though he did his best to hide it, the redhead noticed the small shoulders drop.

At the curt nod the ninja gave him, Naruto felt the friend he thought he would have here in the village slip away. He would be alone again as soon as the man returned home-

"But, if the Hokage accepts me, I'll be living in Konoha from now on."

Hope like he had never felt before soared in his chest, "Yatta! Kazuki-san, we got to convince Jiji to let you stay!"

Eyes alight, the redhead laughed, "I'll be meeting with him to talk about it. You've got nothing to worry about, Naruto."

"I'll go with you and we can convince him together -ttebayo!"

The redhead shock his head, giving the kid an apologetic smile, "Sorry, Naruto, but this is a meeting where important people will be at and they'll need to hear my story without any interruptions or they won't let me stay."

That discouraged Naruto, but he didn't let that get him down. It was only for the redhead's good that he would stay away from that meeting; after all, he wanted his new friend to stay.

"Kazuki-san?" Naruto started, receiving an 'hm' from the man, "Can you teach me jutsu?"

Unblinking, Naruto met Kazuki's eyes trying to convey to the ninja how badly he wanted to learn, to be taught. A moment passed, during which the redhead's gaze narrowed, as if deciding whether or not the twelve-year-old meant what he said. In the end (and after Naruto's nerves had been fried from the wait), Kazuki nodded, a smile stretching across his lips.

"Sure kid, I'll teach you some stuff."

Naruto thought his heart stopped before it started beating at an incredibly fast rate. This was a dream come true! And if it was a dream, he didn't want to ever wake up!

"YATTA! Kazuki-sensei, can we start now?"

"Not right now, no. I have things to take care of," That was a bummer, "but we can meet here again tomorrow after you get out of the Academy."

The muscles in his face started hurting from the smile the kid was sporting as he nodded enthusiastically.

"And you can just call me Kazuki. I'm only twenty-one, you know." The redhead muttered the last part, his free hand rubbing the back of his neck.

Naruto snickered at that, earning a mock glare from the ninja, "Okay, Kazuki-sensei." He barely made out the muttered "Brat" sent his way.

Reaching out, his new sensei ruffled his hair, receiving a spluttering protest from the blond. Though Naruto didn't mean it; it actually felt good. Chuckling, Kazuki pulled back his hand, "You should get back to class, kid. Your sensei must be wondering where you are."

"Eck!" Naruto exclaimed realizing his sensei was right. The class he had been kicked out of had probably already ended and the next one was already starting… but he didn't want to let go of Kazuki's hand. Even though he had just met him, the man made him feel like he could trust him.

Giving the blind a gentle smile, the redhead placed his hand on top of the blond spikes, squashing them momentarily. "It's okay, kid. I'll be here tomorrow." As if those were the magic words, Naruto let go of the man's hand, smiling his biggest smile yet. Kazuki let his hand drop before the blond turned and sprinted out of the training ground with a "SEE YOU TOMORROW, KAZUKI-SENSEI!"

Making his way back to the Academy, Naruto never noticed the citizens' stares nor the insults thrown at him; just navigated the streets in a daze. Finally, he had met someone who didn't hate him and would teach him cool jutsus. This had to be the best day of his life, dattebayo!

Not once did he wonder how his new sensei knew he had class to go to.

* * *

Luck wasn't something Kazuki relied on very often. Instead of thinking that everything would go his way if he worked hard enough, he believed in the power of strategies. It was bound to happen after so many years around one Nara Shikamaru; he learned to appreciate the art and beauty of them (that didn't mean he had stopped doing unpredictable stuff, hehe)… But come on! First Kakashi then Naruto! It wasn't that he was kidding himself, far from it. Living in the same village as they were, it was only a matter of time before they crossed paths; was it really that much to ask not to encountered them so soon, though? Seriously, not even a day back (he didn't count the time he spent in the Hospital) and he had encountered them already. On top of that- and the cream of the crop, in his opinion-, his younger self had snuck up and caught him completely by surprise. He was supposed to be the Rokudaime Hokage (after Tsunade-baachan's death) and former ANBU general (during the Fifth's reign) for crying out loud; yet here he was: bested by a twelve-year-old brat. Oh he could see the irony, alright. How many times had he evaded and escaped from elite shinobi? In the end, he got caught by his past self. It was a blow to his pride that was for sure; then again, it made him feel uncharacteristically proud of the kid. He was glad, however, that the old fox was still sleeping inside of him, recovering from the ordeal, otherwise Kurama would have laughed silly at him.

To be truthful, he had not expected to see the kid today or for the next couple of days. It was a struck of luck that he had though as now he had a good reason to be around the kid and teach him everything he knew. Not only would the training prepare Naruto for the future, but he could also keep the blond company. The kid wouldn't be lonely, like Kazuki had been at that time. As he thought that, something uncomfortable crawled up his spine. Shaking his head, he tried to get rid of the slight jealousy he felt. It wasn't the kid's fault the redhead hadn't had someone to guide him and be his friend at that age, which was one of the reasons why he had come back in time, besides saving everyone. Getting rid of the awful emotion, he focused on Naruto's smile. Even though the villagers had treated him horribly, the kid could still smile from the bottom of his heart. It wasn't something Kazuki thought he could still do, but interacting with his younger self had brought out something inside of him he thought he had lost a long time ago. Oh, he felt rage first as he surveyed the blond's worn, loose-fitting orange jumpsuit and underdeveloped frame. He had resisted the urge to scowl, reigning in his killer intent (he didn't want to scare the kid away); however, it had proven difficult as long forgotten memories resurfaced. Memories filled with pain, loneliness, and hate- things Naruto would never have to experience again, Kazuki clarified in his mind. This kid, with so much to give, would not go through what the redhead had had to, not if he could help it and he definitely could. He had already taken the first step to change it, after all.

A spike of chakra brought him out of his musings, in time to see an ANBU appear in front of him.

Raising an eyebrow, Kazuki asked, "Enjoyed the show?"

The man with a cat mask on didn't reply, but went to the point instead, "Hokage-sama requests your presence." After giving a stiff nod in acknowledgement to the way-too-uptight ninja, Cat disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Kazuki resisted the urge to chuckle for half a second before he gave in to the urge. He had felt Yamato-taichou watching him from the trees since he started sparring, which should make the ANBU operative feel ashamed since Naruto won the stealth competition, but hadn't said anything and neither did Yamato, just let him get it out of his system. What confused Kazuki was the fact that the brunette didn't do anything to stop either the kid or him from interacting with each other. He would have to ask the man later, he guessed.

Well, this day just keeps getting better and better, he though drily before he, too, executed a shunshin.

Appearing in front of the Hokage tower, he strode casually inside, as if he had all the time in the world. Truthfully, the last thing he wanted was to stand in front of his friend's parents, but it was something he had to do if he wanted legal access to the village.

Stopping in front of the Hokage's office door, he steeled himself. _Well, time to get this show en the road_.

* * *

Hi everyone! Thanks for reading and for the great reviews!

So, I'm currently looking for a beta. If anyone is interested, please let me know.

Again, thank you so much for the reviews. They mean a lot to me :)


	4. Chapter 4

BETA: Cmedina1

* * *

If he was being honest with himself, Kazuki should have been prepared for the hard, distrustful, and calculating looks he received upon stepping inside the room, pushing the door closed behind him. Alas, seeing those looks on the faces of people he considered comrades — if not family — had taken him aback. There, just a few feet in front of him were Hyuuga Hiashi, Inuzuka Tsume, Akimichi Chouza, Aburame Shibi, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Nara Shikaku looking younger and much more stoic than the last time he had seen them. In the end, when together, no one bothered to keep their detached masks on, enjoying the company of those who were alive, still with them.

With a flare of chakra, Hiruzen activated the silencing seals that wouldn't allow a soul to listen in on this conversation. The Third Hokage had been waiting patiently for Kazuki to arrive, his advisors on either side of him. Seeing the wrinkled faces of Danzo, Homura, and Koharu made the redhead want to snarl. The three of them, in his mind, represented everything wrong in the Hidden Villages. What angered him the most was that Sarutobi, for all his brilliance, had done nothing about them, even after he told the Sandaime what his 'old friend' had and would continue to cause.

' _Sasuke's goal… is vengeance against Konoha for what they did to the Uchiha clan… and to Itachi_ ' *

'J _ust moments ago I finally got revenge for Itachi on one of the betrayers… one of the Leaf's top brass… his name was Danzo_ ' **

Clenching his hands behind his back to keep them from shaking with the rage he was feeling, Kazuki kept his expression blank, eyes on the Hokage.

"Now that we're all here," Sarutobi started, "I've called you all to introduce Harada Kazuki, who will be, from now on, a jonin of Konoha."

Instantly, there was a riot in the room. The elders, with the exception of Danzo, who just narrowed his eyes intently at the redhead, Tsume, Chouza, and Hiashi expressed their dislike of the notion very vocally (the Hyuuga did so with grace and decorum, letting Kazuki know he thought he was better than some clanless wannabe ninja). Inoichi, Shikaku, and Shibi were the only ones who remained silent throughout the exchange, though their expressions showed surprise — or as much surprise as they, in all their stoicism could show, which wasn't much really. Still, for the Third to be able to make the top interrogator, the genius Jonin Commander, and an Aburame show a degree of emotion in this kind of situation made Kazuki wish he had brought a camera. Oh well, he'd have to make sure to do something that would require them to lose their composure in the future. Still, he felt proud of the old man.

"What do we know of this man?"

"He could be a spy for all we know!"

"Preposterous"

"We don't know anything about him!"

Raising his hand, the Hokage immediately silenced everyone, "Kabuki-san is the apprentice of my student, Jiraiya," Shock followed the revelation.

Danzo was the first to challenge Hiruzen, "I was not aware Jiraiya had taken on another apprentice,"

 _So he's been keeping tabs on Ero-sennin. Should've seen that one_ , Kazuki thought almost impressed the old war hawk had someone who managed to keep up with the Sannin; then again, he had spies everywhere.

"Jiraiya kept him hidden away from prying eyes," Sarutobi shot back lazily, but the accusation behind was hard to miss. Danzo didn't even acknowledge the warning, however.

"How do we know he is really Jiraiya-sama's student? He was found almost dead and under a henge," Came the accusation from Koharu, "For all we know, he could be a spy taking the real apprentice's place,"

The Hokage shocked his head, but Kazuki answered, "My master is the only one who has seen me without the henge. Ever since he found me, he requested that I be under a henge as we didn't want anyone to know what I really look like for safety purposes. It is also the reason why I was under a henge when the chunin found me."

"And what might those safety purposes be?" Danzo asked, a flint in his eye.

Well, it wasn't like he was going to withhold the information, so he didn't know why the elder thought he was going to reveal some secret that would change the way the world spun, "I worked as a spy for master Jiraiya," He just stated bluntly, no need to sugarcoat it.

"That would explain the need to be unrecognizable," He heard Inoichi mumble.

Hiashi nodded slowly, "You make a valid point. If it is true you are in fact who you say you are,"

Sighing, Hiruzen looked at the Clan Head, pulling a scroll from one of the desk's drawers, "I have a message from Jiraiya informing me of Kazuki's arrival, what he looked like, and the password to identify him,"

"You're saying you knew he was coming and you didn't say anything?" Accused Danzo.

"I thought it better to keep his impending arrival out of the loop in case things got complicated and I was right, he was ambushed. I ask you, what do you think would have happened if anyone else knew he was coming?"

"That leads us to believe that instead of an asset, he will be nothing more than a burden if he cannot even make it out of a fight uninjured," Homura attacked now.

Hiruzen turned his eyes towards him, "You do not know what kind of opponent he had to fight,"

"Do please enlighten us then, Hiruzen" Danzo pushed on.

However, it was Kazuki who gave the explanation, "As a spy, I was sent to various places over the Hidden Villages, collecting valuable information for master Jiraiya. One of this places was Kiri." A gasps echoed through the room, "A hunter-nin from Kiri was sent to prevent me from sharing the knowledge. It was too late, though, the message had been sent to master Jiraiya already. He was the one who thought it best to send me here, actually. Said after Kiri I should go straight to Konoha and become a real shinobi, but the hunter-nin caught me before I could disappear completely."

"How are you still alive?" Tsume asked.

"It was either me or the hunter-nin," He said with a shrug.

She was skeptical, "You're saying you killed a hunter-nin from Kiri?"

There was no hesitation or insecurity in his voice when he answered, "Yes"

"And where is the body?" Danzo asked.

"Burned" Was all Kazuki said on the matter.

"You didn't think we would want to see the body?" Koharu screeched.

"I was taught to dispose of the bodies I left behind to prevent collateral damage during a mission."

The old woman huffed, but remained quiet otherwise. A strange light entered the war-hawk's eye.

From the corner of his eye, the redhead could see Shikaku's brows pulled slightly together in concentration, no doubt trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together already. That was the last thing he needed or wanted, though, if there was someone who could unmask him, that would be the Jonin Commander, hands down. He needed to be careful around the man if he wanted to do everything that needed to be done without revealing his true identity. _Good thing I already have a backup plan in case my cover goes to shit_ , he thought dryly.

"Kazuki-san," Came the lazy drawl. Turning his head, the redhead almost flinched seeing the spark lighting up the dark eyes, "What can you offer this village?"

… He did not expect that. Out of all the questions the genius could've asked he wanted an answer to that one, why? After years spent talking to the man, Kazuki knew very well how his train of thought went, but that in no way meant he knew exactly what the man was thinking; the fact that he didn't ask any other question let him to believe that the Nara knew this was just a formal gathering to present him to the Clan Heads as a show of goodwill between them and a new recruit. The sole purpose being to make connections since trust wouldn't have been given or earned at this time. Did Shikaku know all of that? Probably from the moment he heard about the meeting. Kazuki could only think up so many different things the Jonin Commander could've learned out of this situation.

Swallowing imperceptibly, he answered truthfully —even though Shikaku wasn't an interrogator, he might as well have been from how he always seemed to know when Kazuki was lying or even withholding information; at least, that had been from his experience with the man, "I will offer the village anything and everything in my power," There must have been something in his gaze that convinced the man of his claim as the scarred jonin relaxed almost imperceptibly.

"Is that answer enough?" Hiruzen demanded, turning once again to Danzo, who was looking at Kazuki with calculating eyes. If the redhead had been anyone else, he would've flinched at the look; he didn't like it one bit.

"If he is Jiraiya-sama's student, I don't see a problem here. More manpower for us, I say," Tsume chimed in, sending a feral grin to the 'new' jonin.

"We do not know his ability in battle," Hyuuga Hiashi hissed at his former teammate.

The Inuzuka was about to heatedly reply when someone that had remained quiet throughout the whole exchange voiced his thoughts, "That is, indeed, a concerning fact," Shibi said, "Because he was not born in the village, we do not know Kazuki-san's fighting style; therefore, we are unable to successfully place him in a team."

Hiashi blinked at the Clan Head in consternation, "You are in favor of accepting him into Konoha?"

Eyes behind the ever-present sunglasses rested on the Hyuuga's face, "It is logical we accept him into our ranks. If he is who he says he is, he would only be an asset to us."

"I propose we evaluate Kazuki-san's level before deciding on what rank to give him," Inoichi spoke up.

 _Fourth Clan Head who seems to be accepting of me_ , said man thought gratefully. Believe it or not, the twenty-one-year-old didn't think he would gain anyone's backing so soon. He had thought he would've have to work for it and earn their trust; not that he didn't need to do that, but this showed some of them were willing to put their trust on him.

"Will he have to fight anyone?" Asked Chouza.

Hiruzen took that as his cue to give his people the choice, "He will indeed have to fight someone. Who he does fight against, however, will be put up to vote." Eyes on the young man, he said, "If you would give us a few minutes to deliberate on who your partner will be, Kazuki-san,"

Giving a slight head nod in acknowledgment, the redhead retreated from the room, firmly closing the door behind him. He wasn't worried, however. Kazuki knew he would have to spar against someone to prove he could protect the village and its inhabitants; it was part of the plan Sarutobi and him had come up with to show the others he was trustworthy. It was of no consequence that the Sandaime would be alleviating some boredom and skipping paperwork in the process.

* * *

If anyone had told Shikaku he was going to be rudely awoken by ANBU on his day off, he would have given the person a very miserable week. As fate would have it, that had been exactly the case.

Crow had given him a slight report on the mystery ninja that had appeared out of nowhere a few days ago, everything they knew so far, which wasn't much, if anything, at all. However, that didn't deter the Nara; he would get the information he needed and the answers during the meeting, like usual — it wasn't like he read every single document before going to see the Hokage; he had more important things to do after all, like sleep.

Nevertheless, not even all of his years as a ninja, could prepare the Jonin Commander for who he witnessed enter the Hokage's office. The dark haired man schooled his features into a detached mask as soon as he saw the face of the young man walking to the middle of the room. He was going to strangle Crow when he saw the man again, that was for certain. How could the ANBU not inform him that the man in question shared a striking resemblance with the Yondaime? He could even go as far and say that not only were their faces and eye color similar but their physiques as well, both tall with broad shoulders and with defined muscles. The only thing that threw the picture off was the fact that the ninja had crimson colored hair instead of the yellow iconic to Namikaze Minato.

Shikaku's mind had scrutinized every single movement he made or word he spoke. From the minute narrowing of his eyes when they rested on the elders to the clenching of his hands as the Sandaime introduced him as Harada Kazuki. The fact that he was Jiraiya-sama's student that no one seemed to know about (Danzo wasn't his favorite person, but the man had a very reliable spy base. That even he knew nothing of the supposed student of the Sannin spoke volumes about the redhead's importance) and the Third casually saying the kid had been kept away— hidden— cemented in his mind the idea that the young man in front of them was hiding something big. The first time Shikaku heard his voice, he could've sworn he was listening to Minato talk. Kazuki's voice was low and smooth and, just like his deceased friend's, it commanded respect and attention. The genius chanced a glance at Inoichi from the corner of his eye to see if his longtime friend and top interrogator had gotten the same feeling he was getting. The Yamanaka only inclined his head almost imperceptibly, letting Shikaku know he, too, found it strange. The Nara didn't have to wait long to find the answer to the puzzle, however. Henge. It was so simple and the young man had admitted to using it: ' _My master is the only one who has seen me without the henge_ '. The technique couldn't be changing something too drastically or it would've been spotted already, so it had to be something that no one would think of — like the hair. Realization dawned on him the more he thought about the theory. He might be overthinking it, but something told him he was spot on. Harada Kazuki was still wearing a henge but, judging by the trustful gaze the Sandaime was giving him and the claim that he had gotten a message from his student telling him of the redhead's arrival and what he looked like to be able to identify him, that the Sandaime knew Kazuki's real appearance and Shikaku would bet blond hair was involved. Now, all he needed to find was what the man's connection to the Yondaime was.

And he had thought this would be a normal, boring meeting.

After listening to the story of how the young man obtained such an injury, Shikaku decided to make his move. He asked what he could offer the village and he was not disappointed with the answer at all. The same fire he often saw in Minato's eyes when he talked about the village had appeared behind the familiar blue gaze of the ninja, his tone dripping with fervor. It took his all not to smile at the answer; the kid didn't mean any harm to Konoha. In fact, he was just as devoted— if not more— to it as Namikaze-san had been before his untimely death.

The Nara tuned out the other's comments in favor of formulating a plan to get close to the kid. He would have to act slowly and take his time, gaining the ninja's trust in the process as he would make a powerful ally. Even though he could barely feel a trace of his chakra, Shikaku would bet Kazuki was keeping his presence suppressed, not allowing more than the bare minimum to escape detection and that minimum was working as a beacon for the Clan Heads to familiarize themselves with. That small amount felt like a ray of sunshine, warm and inviting. He would invite him to play a game of shogi, he decided, and see what other information he could wiggle out of the redhead.

His focus returned to the meeting in time to hear about Kazuki having to fight someone. _Probably to prove he's capable of fighting_ , he thought dryly, but he had to admit it was a good way of getting to know the guy.

Kazuki left the office to allow them to chose who would face him.

Hiruzen turned to his Jonin Commander, "What do you think Shikaku?"

After a few seconds of deliberating, Shikaku came up with the answer to the problem, "Let him fight Hatake Kakashi,"

The Sandaime only raised his eyebrow inquiring, but there was definitely amusement hidden in the depth of his eyes, making the Nara conclude there was history there or an inside joke.

"Hatake is one of the best jonin under my command. He has experience and can adapt to any situation, not to mention his use of taijutsu, genjutsu, ninjutsu, etc. are unparalleled. He will be the perfect ninja to test Kazuki-san's skill and push him to his limits."

Sarutobi looked around the room, "Those who agree with Kazuki-san facing Kakashi-kun?" Everyone's hands went up in the air, except for the advisors'.

The glint behind the Hokage's eyes was more pronounced now, giving Shikaku the impression he was enjoying the turn of events, "It has been decided. Harada Kazuki's opponent will be Hatake Kakashi."

* * *

* Chapter 462, page 10. Said by Tobi

** Chapter 485, page 6. Said by Sasuke

Thanks for all the great reviews!


	5. Chapter 5

BETA: Cmedina1

* * *

Kazuki groaned for what seemed the hundredth time. He couldn't believe he was going to have to fight against his sensei, this had to be a cruel joke. Why couldn't it have been anyone else?

"That went better than expected," The Sandaime said from behind his desk, blowing smoke from his pipe and looking at the future Hokage with amusement shining in his dark eyes. The old man was definitely finding all of this highly entertaining.

Kazuki gave his predecessor a glare, "You know it had to be done, old man. There was no other way for me to integrate in the village. Now that we are on the topic, couldn't you pick someone else to test me? It had to be Kakashi-san?"

The Sandaime let out a chuckle at the redhead's affronted face, "It was majority's vote. I had nothing to do with it,"

"But you know my history with that man," he accused.

"What can I say? Will you really take away the little entertainment I get? As you know, being a Kage is not all about commanding an army, but to do the paperwork as well." Making the crimson haired ninja groan, rubbing his eyes with his index and thumb as if trying to massage away an incoming headache.

"Wouldn't know about that," Was mumbled too low for the Sandaime to hear. It was one of the things he had not been able to experience as a Kage. When Kazuki took the hat, there hadn't been any need to do paperwork, nor a village to run; in fact, the only 'leader-of-the-village' aspect he was fulfilling was that of being the strongest of the Leaf—its leader. All of his hours had been spent planning on how to bring the old fossil down once and for all; there had been no need for him to even consider running a (non-existent) village. However, right now Konoha was still standing and thriving, and paperwork was still a Kage's bane so of course the Hokage would want to get away from the infernal responsibility, "Good thing I let Yamato-san gather information on my fighting or it would be a really unfair spar. Why did you he let me talk to Naruto anyway?"

"I would've thought that was obvious," The old man regarded him with shrewd eyes.

Kazuki peeked at him from under his fingers, eyebrow almost meeting his hairline, "I already promised to train him, if that's what you were after. There's no way I'm leaving him on his own," He mumbled the last part.

"I was certainly counting on that," The Hokage replied with a soft smile, "If what you said is true, he needs to become strong as fast as possible,"

The new Leaf citizen let his hand drop, bewildered gaze on his superior, "You still don't believe me?"

Hiruzen grimaced at the young man's tone, averting his eyes, "It is hard for me to come to terms with what some of the people I consider dear friends will do in the future,"

"Jiji, it is your choice if you believe me or not. I would rather work with you instead of having to go behind your back to do what needs to be done," He wouldn't like it and it would make the old man distrustful of him.

The Third narrowed his eyes at the young man, face set in stone, "You would be making a grave mistake if you think I would give you the opportunity to do whatever you want in Konoha," A large amount of Killing Intent suddenly filled the room. Had the redhead been anyone else, he would have fallen to his knees gasping for air, alas, he wasn't just anyone and that amount, as large as it was, had no effect on him.

The last thing Kazuki wanted was to get on the man he considered a grandfather's bad side, realizing too late he had inadvertently set himself up as a possible threat.

"That's not what I meant," He hurriedly backtracked, panicking inside. Kazuki wasn't a politician, he never had any training in talking to others and expressing his thoughts without having them bulldoze the other person's point of view, submitting them into seeing and understanding his own. That was how he had always done things and why would he try to mess with what worked? It wasn't like he was ever going to use the knowledge of talking people to death in a roundabout matter; no, he preferred a direct approach. Nevertheless, saying what he thought without a filter here was not going to get him anywhere, if the current complication was any example.

He needed to do some damage control and fast, "You, as the Hokage, would know everything I did. As the leader of the village and its protector, you deserve to know what goes on within its walls, and I'll do everything in my power to protect it and its citizens from any threat, even if it means acting before telling you what I'll do."

Hiruzen regarded his words, which unnerved Kazuki more than he would like to admit. Damn, he felt like he was back at the Academy, waiting for Iruka-sensei to hand him his punishment. If the old man decided he wasn't going to trust the time traveler anymore then there would be only so much Kazuki could be able to do for the future.

"One thing we have to make clear between us, Kazuki-san, is that you no longer are the Hokage nor have you ever been in this time. I would suggest you adapt to your new role as a jonin of Konohagakure no Sato and follow the orders given to you."

Swallowing hard at what he was hearing, Kazuki nodded his head. He was back at square one with the old man and he had no one to blame other than himself and his big mouth. As if he hadn't already dug a hole wide and deep enough to lay in, he commented, "I would still like to know what you plan to do about Orochimaru, Danzo, and the Akatsuki."

The Sandaime was silent, considering him as he smoked his pipe, "When the time comes for Konoha to face them, then you might be a part of the planning team, not a moment sooner,"

The redhead nodded, bowing to the Hokage before walking out of the office.

It had not gone as he had hoped it would. The old man had prohibited Kazuki to move on his own, allowing him to only to do what they told him to and not anything else: not go after Danzo, not go after Tobi, not go after Orochimaru, not go after Kabuto, not go after Zetsu; in fact, not do anything unless the Hokage expressly said he could. Kazuki understood some of the reasoning behind the command —the Third didn't want him roaming free in his village causing Kami knows how much damage (intentional or otherwise). In the Sarutobi's eyes he was a wildcard, someone who needed to be carefully watched and contained, if necessary, but he was also a powerful ally if he proved himself to be trustworthy enough.

By Kami, he really hated politics.

* * *

Kakashi didn't know what to think when the news reached him.

On one side, he felt like he was sure most of the new genin felt when they got their first C-ranked mission— excited—; this was an opponent he could use to measure his growth against. After the redhead left the memorial stone, he had gone directly to see the Sandaime. To say that he had had the nagging feeling his Hokage had been silently laughing at him all the while he had been explaining his encounter with the newcomer was an understatement. By then, the copy-nin was sure the Third knew all about the mysterious person and had already cleared him to roam around the village freely. Or not so freely, if the ANBU that poofed away a second after the man was any indication.

On the other hand, Kakashi was skeptical about him. Just where did a ninja with no village affiliation (that he could find) come from? He would've already heard about a person with the skill level the redhead displayed — intentionally or otherwise. The fact that his sensei lookalike was Jiraiya-sama's student didn't sit well with the jonin. Kakashi had one of the keenest nose in his generation and this development smelled fishy in every sense of the word.

Nevertheless, even with his conflicting emotions, he accepted to be the one to measure the ninja's abilities. Something in the back of his mind was telling him he wouldn't get another spar like the one tomorrow and he prepared for it in the only way he knew how: he collected information on the enemy.

At the first opportunity, he cornered Tenzo, his former teammate in ANBU, and made him spill the beans on what he knew about the redhead. According to his kohai, Harada Kazuki had been one of Jiraiya's apprentice and a spy previously stationed in Kirigakure no Sato, escaping a hunter-nin before arriving at Konoha, hence why he had been in the condition he had been in when he was found. The man had Fuuton and Katon release under his belt, as well as impressive taijutsu, not to mention he could use Kage Bunshin. The fact that he had enough chakra to pull it off and not be tired afterwards spoke volumes about his training, control, and amount of chakra he had, even though the jutsus were both C-ranked. Kakashi had the sneaky suspicion Kazuki also had a healing ability from what he heard about the injuries the redhead had sustained before being interned into the hospital.

Being who he was, Kakashi had tried to get the records from the hospital only to be told the Hokage had sealed them away. If that didn't scream S-rank secret, the jonin didn't know what did. It only served to strengthen his theory about Kazuki not being entirely who everyone said he was: just a young man wanting to become a shinobi for his sensei's village.

However, Kakashi wasn't about to give up on finding information on him. As a matter of fact, he planned on observing the newcomer some more before the fight tomorrow and definitely after. Until he was sure Kazuki had no ill intentions towards Konoha, the silver haired shinobi would be keeping a close eye on the man, that was for sure.

* * *

It wasn't even light out when Kazuki exited his apartment. He hadn't been able to sleep well. The nightmares kept him awake whenever he closed his eyes, so instead he decided to practice some fuuin while going over his talk with the Hokage.

He really didn't have any luck whatsoever. How in Kami's name did he end up having to spar against his former sensei? That was the question that still boggled his mind. Sure, the man was one of the best ninja the Leaf had; heck, he was even a former ANBU Captain, so why had he been chosen as the designated tester? It all stank as the Sandaime's ploy to relieve some boredom. The old cot most have thought it extremely funny to pin them against one another.

Putting that aside though, the meeting had gone better than he expected. The fact that Sarutobi had gotten Jiraiya on board with their scheme had helped a lot and no one suspected anything amiss (the fact that the Sannin was now on the know could only be considered a plus, now he only had to worry about getting Tsunade back in the village), aside from Danzo, Shikaku, and Inoichi that is. Oh, he had seen the glance the Nara had sent the interrogator and the nod he had gotten in return; those two were just too good to be roped into a ploy like that and Shimura was too distrustful to believe anything out of anyone's mouth except his own men's reports (and even that Kazuki was sure the old Warhawk doubted). He still had the hidden hope they would just let things go and trust their Hokage, but that hadn't been the case. As soon as Sarutobi informed him he would demonstrate his prowess against Kakashi and Kazuki was out of the door, Shikaku intercepted him.

The Jonin Commander roped him into going to the Nara compound under the pretense (because seriously, what else could it have been?) of a game of shogi. Taken aback by the bold offer, Kazuki had failed to come up with the perfect excuse to get out of it and knew he was stuck. The redhead just hoped he wouldn't be unlucky enough to have to face Shikamaru once he was there.

Man, Shikamaru.

Closing his eyes, he recalled the last time he saw one of his best friends. They had been pouring their sweat, blood, and (figurative) tears over strategies to take down Madara. Then Kazuki, tired of it all, had the great idea to go scout the old fossil's whereabouts and, maybe, sabotage some of his forces. It was what got him into this mess in the first place.

Kazuki didn't regret it, not for one second. He was giving his home the fighting chance it didn't have before. That, however, did not mean he didn't miss those he left behind to come here. Was it selfish that he wanted to catch a glimpse of his friends? Maybe give them a slight nudge in the right direction for them to become the strong, reliable people he knew them to be. He could do that. He owed it to them to prepare them for what was to come. It was the least he could do to repay a fraction of what they had done for him; it certainly would only help Hinata.

Hinata, the love of his life, the strongest woman he had known ripped away from him by the Uchiha. Clenching his hands into fists, his nails digging into the calloused skin of his palms, Kazuki took in a ragged breath, steadying his breathing. Hinata would get to live, to have the life she deserved; the one he couldn't give her.

Taking one last deep breath, he pushed the thoughts away and focused on what he needed to do now. Opening his eyes, he started the trek to the training grounds where the others would be.

The walk took him almost an hour seeing as the training around was a good distance away from the village, but it had been the most liberating hour he had had in… he couldn't remember. Before he was a genin? Yeah, back then he hadn't had to worry about a single thing other than the Academy and his rivalry with Sasuke. He hadn't known back then what the future would bring. He hadn't even had to worry about Kurama, since he hadn't had a clue about the fox being sealed inside of him. It made him laugh at how young and naive he had been back then, thinking he would somehow fix his life and make everything turn out right. Nothing, other than him becoming Hokage, had turned as he had imagined. Not that it mattered anymore. He would fix everything even at the cost of his life, if it came to that.

As was expected, the Sandaime, his advisors, the Clan Heads, and a few ANBU were already at the meeting place waiting for him and Kakashi to show up. Kazuki was secretly betting on how long the copy-nin would make them wait. The man had been following him since yesterday and would've gone unnoticed if it wasn't for the fact that Kazuki had become very good at sensing chakra, especially familiar ones. Internally, he snickered at how bored the shinobi had to have been just watching the redhead go about doing normal chores. He could've just used one of his seals and block Kakashi from even looking inside his apartment, but where was the fun in that? He knew it was petty, but it was only fair in his mind that the silver haired man lost precious time from reading his Icha Icha given the fact he paid more attention to the blasted books than to his own team.

Noticing him arrive, the others gave him nods of acknowledgement. Tsume along with her partner Kuromaru, Shikaku, Inoichi, and Chouza moved towards him, giving him a warmer welcome.

"You ready to fight?" The Inuzuka started, not even bothering with pleasantries, but Kazuki wasn't expecting anything else from the feral woman. If there was one thing all of her clan had in common, they went straight to the point.

He was only given enough time to nod before Inoichi took his attention away.

"Kazuki-san, I hear you have accepted a game of shogi against Shikaku. I offer my condolences, no one has been able to beat him before,"

Said redhead offered a small smile in reply of the interrogator's own, "Well, he hasn't played against me."

The three jonin laughed at that with Shikaku only regarding him with a calculating look. Chouza clapped his dark-haired teammate on the shoulder, "Hear that Shikaku? Seems you'll have a hard game ahead of you,"

"What I'm hearing," The man drawled, "is the overconfidence of youth,"

If he had been expecting a raise out of Kazuki for his apparent lack of experience, the jonin had another thing coming. Kazuki hadn't been playing against Shikamaru for years and not learned a thing or two. However, Shikaku hadn't meant it in a disrespectful way if the smirk he was wearing and the glint behind his dark eyes were any indication.

"When do you think Kakashi will show up?" Tsume asked, already losing patience with the small talk.

Inoichi looked at the sky before offering his guess, "I'd say about two hours if he sticks to his habit, but he'll probably be here earlier."

"What makes you think he will?" Chouza asked curiously.

"The fact that he's probably just as curious as we are about the new face," Shikaku told him.

The Inuzuka Matriarch looked at him with her brows furrowed, "How do you know he's curious about him?"

The Nara gave her a raised brow before turning to Kazuki with knowing eyes, but didn't answer otherwise.

As if he had been summoned by their conversation, the man appeared in a shunshin, offering a 'Yo' and a two-fingered salute.

The Sandaime took this opportunity to step away from his advisors, who had been talking his ear off about something or other; Kazuki hadn't bothered to pay attention. He didn't miss, however, how Danzo hadn't taken his eye off him, examining his every move and facial expression.

"Now that everyone is here, it's time for the fight to commence." No one missed the dryness of his eyes when he looked at Kakashi, who only gave his signature eye-smile.

"Maa, there was an old lady who needed my help crossing the street."

The was a collective sweat-drop (except for the advisors and Shibi, who remained stoic), even the ANBU guards, with all of their training, weren't immune to it and Kazuki would've sworn he heard a resigned sigh from where he knew Yamato was hidden.

Without any further prompting, the redhead went to stand in front of the jonin who, to the inexperienced eye, looked at ease in the middle of the training ground, but to Kazuki, his old sensei looked tense, alert, ready to defend himself and those around him if the redhead so much as breathed wrong. It felt like a stab in the chest to see the man he considered as family look at him with guarded, distrustful eyes. The redhead pushed the emotion away; he couldn't get distracted by it right now.

Hiruzen walked to stand between them, flanked by two ANBU.

"Kakashi-san, this is Harada Kazuki, apprentice of my student, Jiraiya. Kazuki-san, this is Hatake Kakashi, son of Hatake Sakumo also known as Konoha's White Fang, and student of Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage," He introduced them, a glint in his eyes.

Kazuki raised an eyebrow, pretending this was the first time he was hearing about it, "That's very impressive, Hatake-san. I'm sorry about your father and sensei," the last he meant.

Kakashi's expression never wavered, "Maa, it's okay, Kazuki-san."

The Sandaime returned to his advisors' side, leaving the ninja to start; everyone else stepped out of range.

Silently, both Kakashi and Kazuki eyed the other before both reached for a kunai. Jumping away and throwing them with deadly accuracy, the only sound the 'clang' from the sharp objects coming into contact. Kakashi was the first one to finish his hand seals, sending a fiery inferno at the redhead. Kazuki jumped again to avoid it, sending his own wind jutsu at his sensei— only to find the man gone. Tense, he tried to find where the copy-nin would attack him from only to jump again, avoiding the grabbing hand that broke the earth where he had been standing at the last second and flung himself at the man, a punch aimed to his side.

Kakashi blocked almost lazily, but Kazuki could see the slight widening of his lone eye; he had not been expecting the force behind the blow, making him have to push chakra to his feet to steady himself. They exchanged blows, making the spar a purely taijutsu one. Both of them testing, trying to find holes they could exploit in each other's defenses. Kazuki was the first to find an opening— his sensei's style not as refined as it had been in the future—, sending the man a few meters away with a kick to the abdomen. It didn't slow down the copy-nin at all, who landed on a crouch. Both finished their hand seals at the same time,

"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu" (Water Release: Water Bullet Technique)

"Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu" (Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique)

A great wall of vapor erupted from the collision of the jutsus, obscuring their views. Kazuki took the opportunity to switch with a clone while he hid underground. He had to make this quick; he wasn't that good with Doton jutsus.

Kakashi came out of the mist, kunai drawn back, ready to strike. His Sharingan eye in full view. He was serious. The former ANBU Captain's speed had increased and Kazuki had no trouble matching it, used to fast paced battles. A slight ringing shook his concentration, allowing Kakashi to hit him square on the chest. It sent him a few feet back, but it was enough for Kazuki to shake the genjutsu that messed up his brain off. Kami knew he hated those. Back in the game, he flung a kunai to the copy-nin following behind it. Kakashi deflected it and brought his own kunai up. The redhead blocked, taking hold of the ninja's arm, ready to throw him — only for the silver haired man to disappear in a current of lighting.

The Kazuki clone, which hadn't been given that much chakra, poofed out of existence.

The real Kazuki came out of the ground behind the real Kakashi, aiming a kunai at the man, who deflected it with his own.

As soon as the redhead's feet touched the ground, however, an explosion occurred.

"God-damned it, that hurt," Bellowed the younger man as he came out of the smoke with pieces of his uniform in tatters, while others still smoked. He was covered in debris and sooth; his left arm and side hurting from the burns he received and bloody. Unconsciously, he went to form a Rasengan to make his sensei eat dirt, but quickly reign in his need to plow the man to the ground with it and cancelled it before it could take form, putting his hands to the ground and calling instead,

"Raiton: Jibashi" (Lighting Release: Earth Flash)

A lighting current shot from his hands straight to the copy-nin with enough chakra behind it to leave a crater on its wake. Not wanting to get hit by that, the man jumped up throwing exploding kunais. Kazuki moved, cancelling the jutsu, throwing a special kunai of his own, which Kakashi avoided.

On the ground, Kazuki evaded the explosions, not wanting another burnt side, sending a Suiton jutsu at his sensei, to which the man asserted with a Kawarimi.

Again, a taijutsu spar commenced between sensei and student. Kakashi sent a kick with enough force at the clone that was creeping behind him to make it disappear.

Jumping apart, they grabbed their weapons before rushing at each other —

"That's enough,"

It was only the commanding tone that stopped them in their tracks. Both ninjas relaxing and straightening their poses.

The Sandaime and the others were giving them impressed looks with slight smiles (except for two of the advisors, who just looked like they had sucked on a lemon; Hiashi, who was as serious as always; and Shibi, who just didn't seem to have another expression); the look Danzo was giving him, on the other hand, made him want to snarl at the man.

Tsume was the first one to congratulate him with a feral smile and a light punch to his uninjured arm.

"That was impressive, Kazuki. We'll have to spar one day you and I,"

"If you want to, Inuzuka-sama," Kazuki replied, rubbing the back of head.

She puffed at him, "Now, none of that 'Inuzuka-sama'. Call me Tsume,"

He gave a small nod, dropping his arm, "Of course, Tsume-san," To which she made a face.

"That'll have to do for now,"

"That was indeed impressive Kazuki-san, Kakashi-kun," The Hokage said as he arrived to their side.

The silver and redhead bowed, "Hokage-sama,"

"Now, I think we can all agree Kazuki-san demonstrated incredible skill and ability to think during critical times."

Everyone nodded their approval — as unwilling to be given in two cases as it was — before the Sarutobi signaled for one of the ANBU to show himself. Yamato appeared slightly behind the old man with his head slightly bowed and presented the object resting in his hands to the Hokage, who took it and extended it to Kazuki. "You've earned your place amongst our ranks. From today onwards, you are a jonin of Konohagakure no Sato,"

With a slightly shaky hand, the newly appointed jonin took his new forehead protector, looking at it as if it was the first time he ever did. He was having trouble hiding it, but Kazuki felt nostalgic. This reminded him of the time he made genin. He hadn't been surrounded by Clan Heads sure, but this was it: the point that marked the beginning of his journey. Somehow, it was poetic. His first hitai-ate marked the beginning of his life as a shinobi, giving him a home; now, this one represented his coming back home.

Easily ignoring the dulling pain on his arm and side, Kazuki tied the hitai-ate around his forehead, where it belonged.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," He said, carefully keeping his overflowing emotion out of his voice and bowed again.

Giving him a slight chuckle, the Sandaime said, "Now, you should go take care of that wound. I have two medic-nin at the hospital on standby in case either of you got injured. That includes you too, Kakashi-kun, I will know if you skip,"

"Maa, Hokage-sama," The copy-nin eye-smiled.

With that, Hiruzen left, followed by the ANBU, his advisors, and the Clan Heads, leaving the redhead alone with his younger sensei.

* * *

A/N:

Hey everyone! Thank you for the incredible reviews! They really make my day when I read them :)

ALostBlueIdiot: Sorry, he's not pulling that technique right now. This fight was too serious with the clan heads and all that to try and do it.

Everica: Sorry for the wait, but it's finally here! xD

Let me know what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

BETA: Cmedina1

* * *

Kazuki looked at the silver-haired jonin from the corner of his eye as they walked out of the training grounds. He had half expected the man to get out of there quicker than the others; however, the copy-nin had surprised him by staying and he wasn't sure what to think about that. There were only two reasons he could come up with to explain Kakashi's behavior: he had been assigned to watch the redhead or he was curious. Either way, it wasn't an ideal situation for the new jonin; he would have to watch what he said and did around the tag-along.

Oh, well, he would worry about that when the time came. As it was, he still had a few hours before he had to meet with Naruto. What to do until then? He could go and have lunch at Ichiraku's. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. Without waiting to see what Kakashi would do, Kazuki strode away to the ramen shop. It would be bittersweet to see the old man Teuchi once again but, for the great meal, he could do it. By now, seeing dead people walking around had lost the initial impact — at least, that's what he kept telling himself. Not bothering to see if he was being followed, Kazuki strolled towards the village and his destination.

Teuchi was just as he remembered him though younger, of course, as he sat on one of the chairs in front of the counter. The old man was as respectful to him as he was to any of his customers and Kazuki wasted no time in ordering his favorite dish of ramen. Without a hint of shame, he took a deep breath over his bowl and, heady from the incredible smell, proceeded to inhale the food of the gods.

"You're going to choke if you don't chew your food," came the monotonous comment by his side.

Without pausing, the redhead just shrugged his shoulders at Kakashi, who ordered a bowl as well and ate at the speed of light, making Kazuki snort a laugh.

"You shouldn't be talking when you eat like that," He said, pointing his chopsticks at the copy-nin before ordering another serving.

However, he wasn't prepared for the sudden "KAZUKI-SENSEI!" that had him choking on his noodles.

* * *

It had been a long day for Naruto.

Class had started and, like usual, he had been sent out of the classroom for one thing or another, he hadn't bother to listen to the excuse this time around. His nerves and excitement levels had been all over the place, making him unable to stay — relatively — still or pay attention during Iruka-sensei's class. The chunin had not being amused at the blond's lack of interest, so he had giving Naruto extra work. Ugh, why?! He had protested but, in the end, it hadn't done him any good.

Which is how he found himself now walking over to Ichiraku's before classes had finished for the day. That morning, when he told everyone within hearing distance he had gotten a sensei, no one had believed him. Sakura-chan and Ino had told him 'no one in their right mind could ever want him as a student, because he was nothing more than the class' dead-last. As a matter of fact, Sasuke-kun would have been the first to get a sensei outside of the Academy since he was so great and good at everything.'

Just thinking about it made the young blond frustrated. Why couldn't they see he tried just as hard, if not harder, than their precious 'Sasuke-kun'? But he would make sure they ate their words, especially after the training he would go through. Naruto could already see it: all the jutsus he would learn, the taijutsu. He would be the coolest kid in the Academy, everyone would hang around him wanting his attention and Sasuke-teme would be in the background jealous of him and all alone, and Sakura-chan would finally agree to go out on a date with him. Yes, he could see all of that happening but, first, he needed food.

However, he never thought he would see his newly appointed sensei slurping noodles as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"KAZUKI-SENSEI!"

The redhead suddenly went into a fit of coughs, which had Naruto pounding him on the back with enough strength to make anyone else's lungs be pounded out of their body.

When the coughing stopped, his new sensei just looked at him with rounded eyes.

"This is the second time," said a raspy voice.

"He, he, sorry," The blond said, a hand rubbing the back of his head.

The man sighed, "It's okay. Don't worry about it."

"You know Naruto, Harada-san?"

For the first time, Naruto realized there was someone else sitting next to the redhead. The guy had silver hair that defied gravity and a face mostly covered, only leaving one single dark eye visible. He was shady, Naruto decided instantly, but wondered how the man knew his sensei. Kazuki-sensei had not been in the village that long (that he knew), so how did the redhead know him?

"You can say that," Was his sensei's response.

Having enough with feeling ignored, the blond spoke up, "He agreed to be my sensei and is going to teach me awesome jutsus -ttebayo!"

The silver haired weirdo just blinked slowly at the news. The kid could've sworn he heard Kazuki-sensei snort a laugh.

Suddenly, Naruto realized something, "Wait!" He exclaimed, pointing a finger at the man, "How do you know my name?!"

"Naruto, it's rude to point at people," Chastised the redhead, making the kid drop his arm and focus on him, his eyes immediately drawn to the new accessory his sensei sported.

"You have a forehead protector dattebayo!" Naruto couldn't contain his excitement, "Does that mean you're staying in the village?!"

The redhead chuckled and nodded slowly, "For as long as they want me here."

"YES!" he exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. Now, he could be able to hang out with the ninja whenever he wanted!

"Hello, Naruto," Old man Teuchi greeted him, placing a bowl of his favorite ramen next to Kazuki-sensei.

"Old man!" Without prompting, the kid plopped himself on the stool and proceeded to devour his meal. It was so good! Nothing better than Ichiraku's ramen to fill his belly.

"Say, Naruto, why aren't you in class right now?"

… Uh-oh.

Slurping the noodles and swallowing the last one to get some time to answer the question — though it felt more like a command — he nervously looked at the redhead, afraid of what his reaction might be.

"Uh, the sensei got tired of me not being able to stay still and told me to leave." He admitted, twitching slightly on his chair.

Something flashed behind the older man's eyes that eerily reminded the kid of the eyes that seemed to follow him wherever he went, making him flinch away unconsciously from his sensei.

However, Kazuki-sensei never did anything to him or insulted him. Instead, the man just let out a deep sigh.

"Well, on the bright side, that just means we have more time to train, don't we, Naruto?" He said with a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

Wide eyed, because he had been expecting a lecture, Naruto could just nod repeatedly, pulling a chuckle out of Kazuki-sensei.

"After we finish eating, we'll go to the training grounds and we'll start," Was the last thing the redhead said before the both of them returned to their food.

"Do you mind if I watch Harada-san?" asked the silver haired man and Naruto realized he had forgotten all about the other ninja.

"I don't mind and please, call me Kazuki, Hatake-san"

The sketchy ninja's eye closed to for a U shape, which creeped Naruto even more. How did his eye do that?!

"Then you must call me Kakashi, Kazuki-san"

* * *

"Now, Naruto, I want you to show me everything you've learned at the Academy."

As soon as the three of them had reached training ground seven (bringing back some good memories for Kazuki) the jonin had created a shadow clone, which had walked a few feet away from the original.

"You'll fight with my clone and I'll watch. At the end, I'll know what your level is and we'll go from there," He told the kid, who was practically vibrating with excitement.

"Hai, Kazuki-sensei!" No sooner were the words spoken that Naruto attacked the clone, which just sidestepped the punch easily.

Kazuki inwardly sighed at this. It seemed he would have to start by teaching his younger self some patience.

"He seems very impatient."

Kazuki hummed, giving no other indication he had heard Kakashi, who was leaning against a tree a few feet away; his ever-present book on hand.

"He'll learn patience. He'll have to."

The sound of a page turning was heard before the former ANBU commented, "He's the dead last of his year, what do you think you can teach him that the Academy teachers can't?"

Was it him or was Kakashi being too talkative for… well Kakashi? The redhead looked at the man who he had come to love like an older brother through the corner of his eye, wondering what he was trying to accomplish by being here with them. Protect Naruto from an unknown shinobi? Probably. Get to know Kazuki? More like keep an eye on him since he knew his younger sensei didn't trust anybody easily, especially new faces, so the theory that he was trying to protect Naruto from Kazuki seemed more plausible. Wouldn't it have been better if the jonin hid himself to do though? So, what exactly was Kakashi trying to accomplish by being on plain sight? If Kazuki wanted to hurt Naruto in some way, the ex-ANBU would've had a better shot at catching him if he had hidden himself.

As the redhead opened his mouth to reply, the sudden influx of memories cut him off. Well, seemed like he had more to work on than he originally thought. Damn, he was worse than cringe-worthy at this age; he had forgotten just how _bad_ he had been.

"Okay, Naruto," Kazuki walked over to where the blond was sprawled on his back.

The kid slowly got to his feet, flinching slightly where a punch from his clone had gotten him good, but he was already healing, so Kazuki didn't worry about it.

"Now, your taijutsu is weak," The kid opened his mouth, but Kazuki held one finger up silencing the protest, "The basics you have cannot even be called that. Your form has so many holes you'd be killed within a second not to mention your balance is off and your punches leave you with more damage to your hands than what you do to your opponent," Kazuki knew he was being savage, but he wasn't about to sugarcoat the truth, "Your speed is not even worth mentioning. The only thing you have going for you is that you can think on your feet, you're resilient, and have above average stamina, though I know of people younger than you who could go for a longer amount of time without needing to rest," Then again, those people were geniuses, but Naruto didn't need to know that.

There was hurt and frustration in the kid's face and the tension around his frame made Kazuki feel bad for being so blunt, but he pushed those feelings down. He had to do this if he wanted his younger self to grow; it didn't matter that Naruto hadn't had someone who took serious interest in teaching him properly.

Once again, he cut off what the blond had to say, "Good thing is, you can fix all of that," Giving the kid a smirk, he asked the question he knew would get Naruto pumped, "How do you feel about learning a jutsu?"

From his stunned face, the blond had obviously not been expecting that after the savage critique he just received. However, his face soon morphed into one of pure, unadulterated bliss.

"YES, KAZUKI-SENSEI!" again, Naruto's fist flew to the air high above him, "What are you going to teach me? How to breathe fire?" He asked rapidly in excitement.

Kazuki shocked his head, "The jutsu I'm going to teach you is going to be the basics for you to learn everything else. I expect you to learn it in only a few hours," The kid gave him a wide-eyed look, making the smirk Kazuki already sported widen.

"Now, look closely to the hand seal I'm making," The redhead put his hands on the seal he didn't need to use anymore and Naruto copied him, "The jutsu is called Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Once he was satisfied Naruto had gotten the hand seal right, he nodded, "Good. All you need to do is channel some chakra into it and you'll get your first shadow clone." With that, he left the blond to his own devices, going back to sit by the tree Kakashi had claimed as his own.

The copy-nin was looking at him with a narrowed eye, which he ignored, focusing instead on the training regimen he would have Naruto do after he learned his signature jutsu.

He couldn't teach him the Rasengan at this point since no one could know Kazuki was related to the Yondaime, but he could teach him Fuuinjutsu—

"Don't you think that's too advanced for him?"

Blinking, Kazuki returned to reality and turned to the older ninja.

Shrugging, he said, "Naruto has a very high amount of chakra, can't you feel it? It just leaks out of him like waves," _Which doesn't explain how he's able to sneak up on me_ , he thought frustrated. Twice! What kind of sensory shinobi did that make him? "He'll be able to handle the jutsu just fine, Kakashi-san."

The copy-nin just hummed, returning to his book.

Making himself comfortable on the ground, Kazuki pulled out a scroll from his pant's pocket and opened it to reveal a set of brushes, ink, and paper, attracting the attention of the silver haired man. The redhead could feel the lone eye burning the side of his face, but Kazuki ignored it, picking up the seal he had been working on.

After a few minutes of working on the sealing array that _just didn't want_ to cooperate, Kakashi spoke up.

"Are you a Fuuinjutsu Master?"

Kazuki chuckled, "Sometimes, other times I feel more like I'm an inexperienced genin all over again," He commented absentmindedly. Maybe he was looking at the seal from the wrong perspective. What if he incorporated a stabilizer between the wind and fire kanji? Yes, Fuuton and Katon complimented each other, but that didn't mean they shared the same amount of power unless the chakra channeled to them individually explicitly made it so since fire tended to incinerate everything in its path and wind cut if the intent wasn't clear. Also, he wanted the wind to make the fire burn stronger instead of extinguishing it if the Katon aspect of the seal wasn't strong enough. Maybe just a stabilizer wouldn't be enough…

Hours passed without Kazuki looking up from the array. He hadn't noticed how long he had spent leaning over the design until a shout snapped him out of it.

There, in the middle of the training grounds were two Narutos.

"I DID IT-TTEBAYO!"

"Congratulations, Naruto," Kazuki said with a chuckle, "Well done, now put as much chakra as you can and show me how many clones you can make."

Kazuki didn't need to look at Kakashi to know the copy-nin was giving him a deadpan look.

Putting his hands together, Naruto made the hand sign, "HERE I GO!"

The whole training ground became filled with the cheers of hundreds orange clad blonds.

Out the corner of his eye, Kazuki could see Kakashi's dumbfounded expression and couldn't resist the smirk and "I told you so" that he sent the copy-nin's way.

"Good job, Naruto," The redhead turned his attention back to the blond, pulling another scroll from his pocket, "You can rest now."

Naruto's mouth visibly watered when the kid saw what the scroll contained: bento boxes.

Without further prompting needed, he took one, opened it and with an "ITADAKIMASU!" Digged in using the chopsticks by the other boxes.

Kazuki held out a box and chopsticks for Kakashi, which the older ninja took with an imperceptible nod.

Once everyone ate their fill, the redhead put everything away inside the scroll and pocketed it, turning to the kid.

"How are you feeling, Naruto? Do you think you can continue?"

Naruto nodded rapidly, "Hai, sensei!"

Kazuki smirked at the blond's enthusiasm. It was refreshing to see, especially after living through the Fourth War, where people had lived each day with their hope of survival slowly dying out.

Pushing himself to his feet, Kazuki motioned for Naruto to follow him to the middle of the training ground.

"I want you to create one clone," He stated.

Immediately, Naruto made the hand sign, "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" and there was puff of smoke before another Naruto appeared next to the original.

The redhead crossed his arms, one hand on his chin as he thought about how to explain to his younger self chakra and what he was doing wrong.

"Do you know what chakra is?" He went with the question instead, deciding it was better to know what the kid knew.

Naruto closed his eyes, deep in thought and copied Kazuki's posed without realizing it.

"It's what we have inside us to do jutsus"

Cue sweat drops from both shinobi. Kazuki resisted the urge to facepalm. This was going to be harder than he thought.

"No," How was he supposed to explain this? He gave a sidelong look at his own sensei, but the man just eye-smiled at him like this was Kazuki's problem and was on his own. _Screw you, Kakashi, screw you_.

"Chakra is the combination of physical and spiritual energy within your body. Through training, you can expand them, building your spiritual and physical reserves, which makes you have more chakra," So far, Naruto seemed to be keeping up with his explanation, as the kid nodded, "However," He stressed, "it's not about having huge amounts of chakra, it's about how you use it that matters.

"From what I sensed, you built up more chakra than what you needed to create the Shadow Clone, which makes the other chakra that you didn't need unusable and makes you tire faster and unable to use jutsu to their full potential. Are you following me so far?"

Naruto nodded, letting his hands fall to his sides, "Hai, Kazuki-sensei. I create more chakra than I need."

… That wasn't half bad.

"Exactly. So, what you're going to do now is practice chakra control. It'll help you in the long run to conserve your chakra and use jutsus to their full potential without wasting chakra and making you tired quicker."

"ALRIGHT!" Naruto exclaimed, pumped, "When am I starting?"

Kazuki chuckled, glad the explanation part of the training was over, "Right now. I want you to create three squads of ten, so create thirty clones," He amended when he saw the confused look on the blond's face. "One group will focus on Taijutsu, one on chakra control, and the other one on Fuuinjutsu while you run laps around the training ground."

Naruto flapped his arms like a bird, "WHY?! Why do I have to run?"

"Because," Kami, he didn't know whether to curse or be glad he had never been a sensei before, "physical energy doesn't grow through clones only spiritual, which is such bull I can't even begin to explain." Taking a deep breath to stop the rant that was threatening to burst out of his chest, he continued, "So, you're going to run to build up your stamina and condition your body."

Creating three clones, Kazuki waited until Naruto created his thirty and divided them in groups, each ten following one of the redhead's clone.

"For chakra control, each of you is going to attempt to climb a tree without using your hands," Came one of clone's voice, who went to show his squad what he meant. The 'awws' distracted the other Narutos, who vocalized their displeasure.

"Hey! How come we aren't learning that?!"

"That's so much cooler than Taijutsu —ttebayo!"

Obviously, the Kazuki clones had reached the end of their patience.

" **Do you want to become stronger or not?** "

To the real Kazuki, it was eerie how in sync his clones were.

Some of the blonds hung their heads, while some heh'ed in shame.

" **Now, do what I say.** "

Noticing the original blond hadn't yet moved from where he was standing, Kazuki raised a brow, "What are you waiting for, kid?"

Snapping his attention to the man, Naruto dashed away.

"He definitely has the stamina to learn this way," Kakashi mused from his spot.

Kazuki drew a hand over the side of his face in tiredness, walking back to his previous spot. He only hoped tomorrow would be better.

* * *

Hey everyone! Thank you for the reviews and hope you guys enjoy this new chapter :)

slythefoxx2: I always thought Hiruzen hated fighting and was a pacifist. He would only fight or do something if or when he had to.

Mw: Thank you so much! That means a lot to me :)


	7. Chapter 7

BETA: Cmedina1

* * *

The training had gone better than he had expected.

Naruto had been exhausted by the time Kazuki had called it, but that could've also been from the overuse of Kage Bunshin's and their own exhaustion being passed on to the original. It had taken Kakashi by surprise, and he had no problem admitting that to himself. He had never expected Naruto to be such a chakra monster, but he supposed it was only natural what with the kid having the Kyuubi sealed inside of him and his Uzumaki heritage, Kazuki had had no qualms using that to his advantage when teaching Naruto what he should've learned at the Academy and then some.

It had angered the silver haired man when he realized that the chunin who were in charge of teaching the next generation were actively setting the blond up for failure. He would have a few words with them, he decided. It was one thing for them to silently resent the kid for the burden he carried — the monster Naruto was keeping locked away inside of him for the village's safety — and another matter entirely to teach him incorrectly because of the Kyuubi.

Another thing that caught his attention was that the new jonin could make more than one Kage Bunshin and maintain them for long periods of time without getting tired. It made him wonder just how much chakra the redhead had and how he managed to completely suppress it all. Kakashi had been in close proximity to him and the copy-nin hadn't once felt the other man's chakra. It just spoke of Kazuki's control over it. The only time he had been able to get a feel had been during their spar, but even there Kazuki's chakra had been carefully concealed.

During their fight earlier, he had felt a spike in the other's chakra after he had taken the explosion to the face. It had felt like a ray of sunshine, but with a hint of something else. It was similar to Naruto's now that he thought about it. Thinking about it, how had the redhead been able to recover so rapidly from the wound?

Hm, that only added to the mystery that was Harada Kazuki. Kakashi already suspected the man to be related to the Yondaime and his chakra only reinforced what his features already screamed at anyone who took notice. The only doubt the silver haired man had about their affiliation was Kazuki's bright red hair and the fact that his sensei didn't mention anything about a family outside of Konoha; in fact, Minato hadn't mentioned anything about still having living relatives.

The ninja also seemed to have his late sensei's affinity for Fuuinjutsu and knew it well from what he had seen from the corner of his eye as the redhead worked on a seal as his shadow clones drilled Naruto to the ground.

Personally, Kakashi knew his way around seals, though not to the extent Kazuki seemed to. Being on Namikaze Minato's genin team, and his sole surviving student, he had picked up some tricks. However, since his sensei's death, he hadn't had the inclination to continue looking at something that reminded him so strongly of the Yondaime (not that he had a knack for it anyway), preferring to throw himself into ANBU, the missions, and his training.

Reviewing their small interaction, the redhead had seemed surprisingly relaxed in the copy-nin's company. Kazuki had never been tense around him, accepting his presence, not batting an eyelash even when Kakashi had pulled out his precious Icha Icha and started reading — normally, people (didn't matter if they were ninja or not) reacted in some way to his choice of literature—; however, Kazuki had treated it like it was a daily occurrence. Kakashi didn't want to admit it but it had grated on his nerves and pleased him at the same time. Finally, he had found someone who didn't demand he put his book away.

Kakashi took pride in being able to annoy many people; it was one of his favorite pastimes, especially after losing Obito. That was still one of the worst memories he had (and he had gone through a lot of horrifying experiences), but losing the best friend he didn't know he had at the time because of his own stupidity was the only thing that reminded him he could make mistakes, that he couldn't trust just anyone, and he needed to be at his best always to be able to protect those he considered his comrades, the Hokage, and the village they all called home. By annoying and frustrating everyone, he felt he was keeping a part of Obito alive and with him even though that would never be the case anymore.

Somehow, Harada Kazuki reminded him of Obito before the mission. The redhead was not brazen or late, but was, in fact, respectful of others unlike how the Uchiha had been. However, there was something in Kazuki's eyes that spelled mischief and Kakashi wasn't sure he wanted this new man to be a combination of Obito and Minato, which was how he seemed he was.

Thinking about the redhead, there was something else that didn't make sense to Kakashi. Defectors were put in the Bingo book, but Harada Kazuki had not been on anyone of the ones he had looked through — believe him, he had searched. It could be because the younger man had been too young when he had deflected, therefore not considered a threat? Surviving so many years alone as a missing-nin was no easy feat and he would've had to depend solely on his own power, making him a fierce opponent, so it would've been necessary to put his face in a Bingo book.

After the realization, Kakashi got all of the Bingo books he owned together —and scavenged for the ones he didn't— and went through each and every single one of them, going as far as using his Sharingan to make sure he didn't miss Kazuki's page. Nevertheless, no matter how many times he searched, there was no Harada Kazuki to be found.

The mystery around the new jonin just deepened and deepened.

As it was, Kazuki seemed to be in the Hokage's good books since the Sarutobi accepted him full heartedly into the village.

Kakashi couldn't decide what to feel about that. He believed in his Kage, but he didn't fully trust the redhead that came out of nowhere, no matter how much others said his allegiance was to Konoha. There was just something about him that didn't add up and Kakashi was going to keep a very close eye on him, especially since the man was spending so much time with Uzumaki Naruto, Minato and Kushina's son.

If Kazuki was not indeed who he said he was, there was no way Kakashi was going to give him the opportunity to do anything to his sensei's son. No, he was going to keep a close eye on Harada Kazuki that was for sure.

* * *

" _You idiot, get back here!"_

 _Sasuke looked at him through the corner of his eyes, blocking an attack from one of the transformed Zetsus as he did. Naruto could see the Uchiha was reaching his limit and they were surrounded on all sides. They needed to retreat now before it was too late._

 _The blond was already cutting a path through the enemy forces, trying to reach his teammate. They had been separated by the sheer amount that threatened to capture them either dead or alive. It didn't matter, as long as the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki was taken to Madara so he could extract the Bijuu._

" _Naruto," Sasuke's voice reached the blond's ears, "You need to get out here."_

 _Determination and pure steel could be heard under the tiredness, making Naruto tense even more than he already was. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't like the tone._

" _What do you mean?! We're getting out of here!" He could feel his strength reaching the limit as he reached the Uchiha's side, covering his back._

 _They were the only ones left standing in the battlefield where Suna had once stood, tall and proud in the middle of the desert, the other had either fallen at the hands of Zetsu or managed to escape. Sakura, thought she had wanted to stay with her genin team, had been needed to take care of the injures, thus leaving to save as many lives as she could._

 _Sasuke's sword sliced like butter through another Zetsu clone before he said what Naruto never wanted to hear, "You're getting out of here, Dobe. I'll use the last of my chakra to take as many Zetsus out."_

" _You're out of your mind if you think I'm going anywhere without you, Teme."_

 _Aggressively, the jinchuuriki beheaded another attacking clone, taking out the frustration and anger he felt towards his teammate on the enemy._

" _No, idiot, they don't want me. They want you. You're our only hope. As long as Madara doesn't get the other half of the Kyuubi, he can't complete the Infinite Tsukuyomi."_

 _Naruto deflected an incoming attack, jumping backwards, back against Sasuke's, "You're forgetting I can get us out of here using the Hiraishin." He said, exasperated._

 _The Uchiha didn't say anything as he defended himself from the attacks._

" _Do you have chakra left to use it?"_

 _Not at this immediate moment, no. Kurama was building up chakra as they spoke, so he would have enough to perform the jutsu._

 _A 'Heh' was heard from the man he considered his brother, "That's what I thought, Dobe. You can't even use Kage Bunshins right now."_

" _I'll be able to soon," Was his retort, panting slightly._

 _They had been going at it for a while now without so much as a break between the attacks and, as many of the clones as they cut down, more seemed to appear out of nowhere._

 _Naruto could see a slight smile lift the corner of Sasuke's lips and his heart dropped to his stomach._

" _Sasuke!"_

Gasping, Kazuki woke up. Cold sweat running down his face and body as he came out of the nightmare.

That had been the last time he had seen the man he considered his brother alive. When he had managed to gather the courage to face Sakura with the news, the pinkette had taken the news with a blank face, but Kazuki had found her later doubled over on her knees crying. It had taken everything he had to not make himself known to her. If she wanted him to console her, she would've sought him out and share the loss they were both feeling, but that wasn't who Sakura was. She didn't want him to feel even more like a failure than he already felt by crying on his shoulder.

Everyone else had taken the news hard, too. Already, they had forgiven Sasuke for his betrayal and accepted him as part of their force.

Sakura had then made it her mission to not let the Uchiha's sacrifice go in vein. She had taken it upon herself to always be around him, guarding his back even though she was needed by the injured. And if she couldn't be her shadow, she made sure he was always accompanied by trustworthy shinobi, who had been drilled —under threat of bodily harm — to make sure Kazuki returned alive. Those who got guard duty took her words very seriously as no one wanted to be on the girl's bad side, especially since she would make good of her promises.

But Kazuki couldn't stand being the reason of his comrades' deaths. Yes, he felt guilty. It was his fault Sasuke had sacrificed himself for him; why so many others had died while protecting him. He never seemed to be strong enough to protect them and, no matter how much they fought, Madara's army never seemed to diminish in numbers.

' **Brat, stop moping around'**

The fox's voice jolting him straight in bed.

' _Kurama, you're awake! I've missed you, you big fluff ball,'_ The redhead said fondly, finding himself in his mindscape for the first time since they came to the past. No matter what he went through, he could always count on the Kyuubi to be there with him. He had truly missed his companion while Kurama had been asleep.

The huge fox gave him a toothed grin as they came face to face, **'Can't say I missed your irritating presence,'** Was the greeting he got, making him roll his eyes. After all the time they had spent together, Kazuki was used to the fox's tough love.

Giving Kurama a sour look, _'Really? After all the time we've been together, that's what you have to say to me?'_

The fox let out a yawn, pulling himself to a sitting position, eyes scanning his partner, **'You look like hell.'**

Kazuki snorted, _'Jee, thanks buddy, not all of us can have hours of beauty sleep like you.'_

Kurama sent him a disdainful look, which would've made anyone else think they were just small little bug trying to gain a superior being's attention, **'Unlike someone, I had to use almost all of my chakra to get us here. I'm surprised the Uchiha isn't burnt to the ground already. We've been here for a week.'**

' _It's not like I don't want to go out and hunt him down. I can't do that right now; I don't even know where the bastard is at this point in time.'_

Kurama sent him a look, ' **I know about your talk with the monkey. Are you going to let him dictate what you do? You can take him anytime you want. He's nothing more than an old fool if he thinks doing nothing is the solution to the problem.'**

Kazuki shocked his head at his friend, _'It's not that, Kurama. He knows all his movements are been watched and, he does something, Danzo will use it to make his move. So will Orochimaru through Kabuto, or any other spy he has. He wants to be ready for when they attack.'_ At least, that's what he thought the Sandaime was thinking; however, the redhead had been young when the Sarutobi died — no more than thirteen—, not giving him time to know the Hokage as anything other than 'Jiji'.

Kazuki didn't know many things about the Sandaime that would have beneficial to deal with the man, yet he knew just how much the 'Professor' loved Konoha. It was what drove him, what kept him going even after the Uchiha Massacre, what made him take the hat again after the Yondaime's death. It was something Kazuki would always respect about the man; he wanted what was best for the village.

' **Why not just kill them now and be done with it? Much simpler and we get rid of the three of them for good before they can do some real damage.'**

' _But then that would change the future in ways we can't even begin to imagine. If we're going to move against Danzo, we need solid proof —which we don't have right now — to back us; otherwise, we'll risk getting into a political headache that might end with us paying Ibiki a visit.'_

' **Heh, just be honest and say you don't want to act against the old fool.'**

Kazuki shock his head again, _'Maybe that's part of the reason, but I don't want to leave Naruto alone. Not right now; he needs us, Kurama.'_

The fox was silent, mulling over his words.

Finally, he let out a chuckle, **'Even after all this time, I'll never understand you humans.'**

The redhead's lips turned up into a fond smile, which was quickly replaced by a frown, _'Say, Kurama, why can't I sense when my younger self is near?'_

That got him a superior smirk from said chakra monster, **'Got you good, did he? And here you kept saying no one could ever sneak up on you.'**

' _Just answer the question, Kurama,'_ He said, irritated.

' **Hm, no.'**

Kazuki blinked, taken aback. He hadn't expected his partner to refuse telling him the reason why Naruto seemed to be the only one he couldn't sense.

' _Why not?'_

' **If I gave you all the answers you'd never use that scattered brain of yours. I can even smell dust in here and it's not even the part of the brain where you think.'**

Kazuki sweat dropped. It was just like Kurama to tell him he was an idiot.

' **It's really simple, if you think about it,'** The fox offered, probably knowing the former blond wouldn't leave him alone if he didn't, at least, give him a hint, **'What does he have that you do, too?'**

Kazuki didn't even have to think about it, the answer dawned on him like a lightbulb been turned on.

' _We have the same chakra signature! I'm not sensing him because my senses are so used to my own chakra that they completely ignore Naruto's because it's exactly the same as mine.'_ He told the fox, wide eyes excited at finally having figured it out.

Kurama hummed, **'Not quite. When he taps into my other half's power his chakra will feel slightly different, but only when he uses that chakra.'**

Kazuki immediately comprehended why, _'Because he has the Yang half of you, while I got your Yin half after the Yang was extracted from me.'_

The great fox nodded his head, confirming the theory. The redhead thought about the implications for a few seconds. He would never be able to sense his younger counterpart unless Naruto used Karama's chakra and that only happened by accident. It wasn't like he had befriended the fox at that point in his life and wouldn't fight alongside Kurama until he reached sixteen. He would need to either put a tracking seal on Naruto to know exactly where he was at all times, which wasn't such a bad idea (a total disregard of the kid's privacy, unless Naruto knew about it). On the other hand, it gave way to an idea he had been contemplating for some days now. It wouldn't put him back in the Sandaime's graces — quite the opposite, actually —, but it had to be done either way so he wasn't doing anything wrong, technically.

' _Thank for the help, I really appreciate it,'_ Kazuki the fur he could reach on the fox's paw. It really was a marvel how soft it was, _'I should get going. Have a Shogi game to play. We'll talk later, Kurama.'_ With one last petting and a wave, he turned, walking away.

Laying back down, the Kyuubi closed his eyes, ready to go back to sleep, ' **I'll be here if you need me,** _**Namikaze Kazuki.**_ **Or is it still Uzumaki?'**

Said redhead looked at the great fox over his shoulder and, seeing one intelligent eye open, offered a wink before disappearing back into the outside world.

With a smile on his face, Kazuki opened his eyes, feeling better now that he had his partner back. Jumping out of bed, he changed into the standard jonin outfit — minus the flak jacket— and, after making sure he had his weapon and supply pouches strapped to his legs and hip — and making sure his henge was in place—, he made his way out of the apartment, activating the seals he had applied on the first day after locking the door.

He was not, however, looking forward to the interrogation that was sure to happen while playing an innocent game of Shogi against Konoha's Jonin Commander.

* * *

It was a very nice day.

The sky was blue and the clouds were in their prime to be watched. What wouldn't Shikaku give to have a few hours to himself and watch the clouds (or sleep, it didn't really make a difference to him) like he could when he was younger. Then again, he didn't have the responsibilities he had now; he was a father, a husband, and the Jonin Commander in that order. Believe him when he said the first two took priority over the last one (not to mention they were harder. Even though he was called a genius, he would never understand Yoshino; had, in fact, given up a long time ago) and leave it at that.

As it was, he found himself lounging outside on the patio, the Shogi board set up and ready for when his guest arrived.

The scarred man couldn't believe it when the redhead agreed so easily to play a game against him. Shikaku had been expecting some kind of hastily made excuse or something similar from the new jonin, but he had been pleasantly surprised when Kazuki had readily accepted his offer; though Shikaku had been able to discern wariness lurking behind the blue eyes that were so much like Minato's.

As much as he tried, the genius couldn't help himself and kept recalculating in his head Kazuki's age and when the Yondaime might have gotten close to some other woman who wasn't Uzumaki Kushina, but the calculations were wrong. First, Kazuki was twenty-one, too old to be Minato's kid. Second, there was no way Minato would have ever cheated on Kushina; he loved her too much even a blind person could see it.

However, nothing could change his mind about the two of them being related. From the beginning, Shikaku had discarded the idea of them being brothers. Minato was an orphan; his parents had died a long time ago and the Yondaime had had to live in the orphanage since he was a baby. So, the familial blood had to come from a relative of Minato's, like an uncle, but that didn't make sense since the 'uncle' or 'aunt' would have come to Konoha looking for protection or power since he or she was the Yondaime Hokage's family. That hadn't been the case, meaning they were dead, leaving Kazuki alone. Either that or Jiraiya had paid them to stay away.

It was an interesting theory, but it didn't have enough substance to be believable.

Either way, today he would have his answers.

Letting out a sigh, he remained slouching even as a clan member walked over followed by the redhead who had become Shikaku's newest puzzle.

"Shikaku-san," Kazuki greeted, gracefully taking the spot across said Nara.

"Kazuki-san," Nodded the Clan Head in acknowledgement, noticing how the redhead treated him more like he had the same ranking or superior to the Jonin Commander's.

The new jonin motioned with his hand at the already set board, "I see everything is ready."

Shikaku allowed himself a small smile. The man was clearly uncomfortable, which made it easier for the Nara to read him.

Nodding, he said, "You can go first."

Kazuki didn't waste time moving a single rook ahead, nothing that would give away his plan of attack. Shikaku mirrored the move.

It was an interesting game. Shikaku hadn't felt this challenged in… forever if he was truthful. For every time he tried breaking through the redhead's defense, one of Kazuki's pieces was always there, ready to take one of his.

From what he had gathered during the last few hours, Kazuki had a backup plan for the backup plan. His gameplay was thorough, not allowing any kind of breach through his defenses; if there was, he soon fixed the problem.

Each time the Jonin Commander chanced a glance at his guest, he carefully analyzed the redhead's unguarded expressions. For someone who used to be a spy, Kazuki was pretty easy to read when his sole focus was on the game. His eyes positively sparkled when he figured out the next move — which would usually remove one of Shikaku's shogi piece from the board. A frown was the default expression he wore when he was deep in thought before moving a piece were replaced with a carefully crafted blank mask.

However, it was the quirking of the lips that caught the Nara's attention. He had seen that same twitch of the lips somewhere before, he was sure of it. The distraction made him lose one lance to a rook, putting him on the defense.

"You play well," Shikaku complimented the man sitting relaxed on the other side of the small table.

Kazuki only shrugged, as if it wasn't that big of a deal, "One of my best friends showed me how to play."

The Nara slightly raised an eyebrow at the offered information, his hands laced supporting his chin.

"I didn't think being a spy allowed you to have such deep connections with potential targets," He drawled.

Kazuki froze almost imperceptibly, but the older man could see the tension that wasn't present before on the younger ninja's shoulders as the redhead moved his Silver General away from the Jonin Commander's lance that threatened to remove it from the game.

"They were from before I went with Jiraiya-sensei," Was said in monotone. So, he was going somewhere, good to know.

Shikaku hummed, inspecting the board with his eyes, "It must be quite the story, how one of the Sannin found you. From what I gathered, you were taken from the place you grew up almost a year before the Yondaime's death and it was from a remote village strictly made of civilians who dislike shinobi in general. Curious that Jiraiya-sama decided to gather information specifically in that small village, wouldn't you say, Kazuki?"

From underneath his lashes, Shikaku saw the new jonin tense even more.

"What are you implying, Shikaku-san?" There was clearly an undertone threatening to break the blank exterior, but the kid kept his composure, eyeing Shikaku with icy blue eyes.

"You have the exact same eyes as an old friend of mine, not to mention his same factions— except yours are slightly softer. I would think the hair is in memory of his wife since you're still under the henge."

Minato's eyes regarded him for a long time, so long, in fact, Shikaku thought Kazuki wasn't going to say anything. He was about to move one of his Shogi pieces when the redhead pulled the left sleeve up, revealing a tanned forearm with black markings etched on it.

It wasn't the first time the Nara had seen a seal applied directly on the person's skin — Tsunade of the Sannin had a seal on her forehead after all — but it was his first time seeing more than one. Shikaku wanted to ask what they were for —though most looked similar— but held his tongue. He wanted to see what the redhead was going to do.

Kazuki pushed a bit of chakra, that washed over Shikaku like sunlight, into one of the seals closest to his wrist, which was encircled by the same seal Orochimaru had (Kuchiyose no Jutsu if he remembered correctly). Shikaku opened his mouth to ask what the seal did, but the redhead beat him.

"It's a barrier that makes us invisible to those outside and has a silencing component, like the seals in the Hokage's office. No one will be able to see or hear us. Mostly, I use it so I can sleep without worry in enemy territory." A blue light covered the space where they were sitting, from floor to the space above their heads, as Kazuki finished his explanation.

That was… very useful indeed, Shikaku thought, amazed.

"The Hokage is the only one who knows, beside Jiraiya-sensei, what I look like. They told me never to reveal it to anyone, though they — allowed me to tell people, at my discretion, about my true identity," As he talked, Kazuki's bright crimson hair color changed until it was a bright, sunshine yellow. If there had been even a sliver of doubt, it had been completely erased. Not even if a DNA test stating otherwise had been presented to him, Shikaku would not believe it. Harada Kazuki and Namikaze Minato were related.

Now, if only he knew how.

Through all of this, the Jonin Commander kept his face carefully blank, not giving anything away, "You are related to Namikaze Minato and Jiraiya-sama and the Sandaime knew about you, which is why they decided to hide you."

The now-blond nodded, "Jiraiya-sensei found me a year before the Kyuubi attacked Konoha."

Shikaku lazed his fingers together, covering his mouth, and proceeded to absorb the information. That year, nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Yes, the village was getting back on its feet after the war and Namikaze had been made the Yondaime. The Nara reviewed every single interaction he had with his friend throughout that year, but nothing stood out. Minato had acted like he always did; there couldn't have been any knowledge of the kid, otherwise the Yondaime's happiness would have been seen by all. That, however, only happened when he got word about Kushina's pregnancy…

What if Minato had no idea about the kid before he was hidden in some obscure town? He could see the Sandaime going along with this plan — even if the old man didn't want to go through with it —, but highly doubted the Sannin would take someone that could bring such happiness to his student away.

There was still the fact that Minato had no family outside of Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Naruto—

It couldn't be.

Shikaku squinted, focusing on Kazuki's face. He had seen the kid from a distance when he walked by the market and he couldn't stand the eye-blinding orange clothing Naruto seemed to prefer, but that wasn't what he should be focusing on right now. No, he should be focusing on the bone structure that was clearly the same, even underneath the kid's baby face.

It wasn't possible, but his eyes were not playing trick on him. Just in case, he made sure he wasn't under a genjutsu, yet the image in front of him didn't change. The only thing that was lacking from his face were the three whisker marks on each cheek and he would have Uzumaki Naruto, all grown, playing Shogi with him.

And here he had thought the henge had only been applied to the hair.

It was a gamble, what Shikaku was about to do, but this theory was more interesting than the one of Minato getting a family member out of thin air.

"So, tell me," He started conversationally, "who ended up being your genin sensei?"

Kazuki froze. Wide blue eyes staring into his black for less than a second before the jonin masked the surprise, fear, and nervousness that had been clear on his face.

"I do not believe I know what you mean, Shikaku-san," The blond carefully said, not giving anything away as he moved a pawn on the board. Shikaku noticed the move out of the corner of his eye but kept his focus on the man.

"I believe you do," he countered, moving his gold general up, snatching the blond's lance, "You see, you appeared under mysterious circumstances claiming you were spying in Kirigakure when hunter-nin discovered you yet you brought no pertinent information, or you brought it but shared it only with the Hokage.

Now, why would the Hokage not know who you were when you were found with severe wounds if Jiraiya-sama had already sent him a message telling him you would be coming? I read the report, as much as I don't like that part of my job, it's still my job. Why would Sandaime-sama not inform the rest of us about your condition and who you were while you were in the hospital? Because, he had no idea who you were at the time, meaning you convinced him of your claim after you woke up. Or the Sandaime has been compromised and he's under a genjutsu or another type of mental incapacitation." He said, motioning with his chin to the exposed arm.

Silence reigned after that monologue. Neither ninja attempted to move from the position they were in. Shikaku was about to give up on the young man talking and opened his mouth to continue fishing for information and taunting the blond with his own theories when he noticed three lines appearing on his guest's cheeks.

* * *

The Nara Clan Head raised an eyebrow, "The story had a few holes." Was the explanation he gave at the ninja's silent question.

Kazuki let out a chuckle. Trust a Nara to tear apart a solid story everyone else would've had no trouble buying.

"That bad, was it?"

The question was not completely unexpected. However, after his admission, Kazuki had thought Shikaku would ask for more details than that, but he couldn't really say he knew the man that well anymore; it might be the same man underneath, but this Shikaku hadn't lived what they lived, nor had he considered Naruto his adopted son.

Kazuki nodded, "There were still some of us alive, but our forces were being steadily chopped each day. The Hidden Villages fell one after the other. The survivors had to resort to live in caves protected by nothing but their own chakra and scavenge for food in a dead forest. There was barely any hope left." He took a deep breath, steadying himself.

Before, he had been focused on surviving the time he found himself in, living the days thinking about how he would prevent the world from ending the way it had that Kazuki hadn't realized how much of his emotions he had been suppressing. The talk with the Sandaime about his past —their future — had been clinical, like giving a mission report. Now that he talked about their impending doom with a man he had learned to look up to like a father, Kazuki felt all his failures come crashing on his shoulders.

If only he had been stronger, Madara and Zetsu would've been dead by now and the villages would've prospered after that last war, joined together by mutual understanding and friendship. It was his fault nothing of the sort had taken place. It had been his responsibility to rid the world of Uchiha Madara and he hadn't even been able to do that! What was the point of having had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him if he couldn't eradicate the threat to his home with the Fox's power to help him do so?

"The future might be lost, but you're here now to prevent that from happening."

Kazuki didn't realize he had tear tracks running down his cheeks until he felt a wet drop fall on his pants. When was the last time he cried? Honestly, he didn't remember. So focused on surviving and on protecting the ones alive he had been that he hadn't had the time to properly grieve for his own loses.

"Yeah," Was all he could make out of his constricted throat as he cleaned the tears with the sleeve of his uniform.

Raising his eyes, he met the calculating ones of the Clan Head, who seemed to be very deep in thought; it was no wonder since Kazuki had giving him a lot to think about.

"We'll have to thread carefully if we don't want to make the same mistakes as the ones from your past," Was said after a few seconds of silence.

The blond snorted, "You're telling me? The Sandaime already banned me from acting on my own, unless I am under his strict orders."

Humming, Shikaku commented, "It's no wonder. The Third doesn't want to affect the balance too much in case the future changes so much your knowledge won't be of any use anymore."

Kazuki mulled that over. It made sense, he supposed and nodded in acceptance.

Noticing the blond jinchuuriki had seen things his way, Shikaku smirked, "Now, tell me everything I need to know to help prevent whatever happens to happen."

A slow smile formed on Kazuki's face as he realized that, even though he had doubted it, he would get the man he had considered a father back.

* * *

New Chapter! Yay! xD

This is the longest chapter of the story so far at 5,984 words, so let me know what you think!

Thank you so much for the reviews! :D


	8. Chapter 8

BETA: Cmedina1

* * *

There had been many times over the years when he had been rudely awakened due to some important thing or another, but this had to be the most ridiculous reason he had ever heard of. It seemed that Naruto had taken his teachings to heart and decided to continue practicing what he learned yesterday, meaning a mass amount of Kage Bunshins. That wasn't problem; no, not at all.

The problem was that he had used his newfound technique to pull pranks left, right, center, and sideways throughout the whole village. To say there was hysteria and chaos everywhere Kazuki looked would be an understatement. One thing he would never admit to, was that he was secretly proud of the kid. Well, he would admit it just to Naruto.

It brought back happy memories seeing the Hokage Monument so colorful, but he was not looking forward to the summons he had received from the Hokage to take responsibility: talk to the blond and teach him that no, pranks weren't the way to go. In his opinion, that would just hurt Naruto's growth since it meant telling him he couldn't get creative and think outside of the box; it was what had save him so many times.

After the talk with Sarutobi (the old man had been more amused, if a little exasperated, than anything at Naruto's pranks), Kazuki went straight to the Academy, not wanting to put the 'talk' off much longer. To his immense surprise, the sight that greeted him when he opened the classroom door made him almost go blind.

The entire room had been painted orange; even the board was now a bright neon color not to mention the only difference between Iruka, the others and the room was their eyes. Not a single one of them had escaped the orange bomb that had gone off.

It took everything the redhead had to keep a straight face and not burst out laughing.

"Kazuki-sensei!"

The redhead peeled his eyes away from the incredible sight to look at the child that now could camouflage very well with the room.

"Sorry for interrupting," He said once he realized the kids and Iruka-sensei stopped talking and were looking at him, "My name is Harada Kazuki. I'm here for Naruto."

"Yatta!" In the span of a second, the blond menace broke himself out of the bindings preventing him from moving. "Did you see the Hokage Monument, Kazuki-sensei? It's the best prank I've ever pulled!" The kid exclaimed as he came to stand in front of the older man.

Kazuki gave him a wry smile, "We'll talk about it later, Naruto." There was no way he could sheer on the kid with Iruka closely eyeing him. And wasn't that something? Iruka alive and teaching. The child inside Kazuki wanted to hug the man but knew he couldn't.

Iruka walked over to them, "I'm guessing you're the Kazuki-sensei my student has been talking about so much."

Before Kazuki had a chance to reply, Naruto spoke up, turning to the chunin, "Hai, Iruka-sensei! This is Kazuki-sensei, he taught me a really cool jutsu yesterday!"

"Is that so?" Was the suspicious reply.

"Yatta! It's how I was here in class at the same time I was outside!"

Okay, that was enough. Kazuki put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and the other one over his mouth.

"Sorry about the disturbance my apprentice has caused." He said apologetically — though not really; it was a really good prank.

"Naruto-baka! How did you get someone to take you on as their apprentice?!"

Kami-sama. Kazuki froze for an instant, before turning to look at who had spoken. Yes, he knew the others were in the room and had kept himself from even acknowledging them, putting his walls as high up and tightly locked as he could. Now, though, seeing Sakura so small and vulnerable—

— He didn't know exactly what he was feeling, just that a current of emotions raged inside of him keeping him frozen.

And it wasn't just because of his former teammate. It was because Shikamaru, Hinata, Choji, Kiba and Akamaru, Ino, Shino, and Sasuke were there looking at him with different degrees of surprise, confusion, suspicion, and calculation.

Kazuki wanted to throw up, but held himself high as he scanned all of those familiar faces.

As he wasn't putting much effort into keeping Naruto within his grasp, the kid shot forward, exclaiming, "I'm going to be the next Hokage —ttebayo! Of course they'd give me a sensei!"

"Then I want an apprenticeship too" Bellowed Kiba, a young orange Akamaru on his head, standing from his seat, "since I'm going to be the next Hokage!"

"Naruto," Kazuki called out softly once he was able to find his voice, cutting off whatever the kid was going to say. "We should get going."

"Wait, Kazuki-sensei. Iruka-sensei was going to test our Henge no Jutsus!"

Kazuki raised an eyebrow, making a mental note to teach the blond not to show off… too much.

* * *

Sasuke had been one of the ones who hadn't believe Naruto when he said he had gotten a sensei willing to teach him to be a ninja. Why would he when the blond had the worst grades in the Academy? If anyone deserved to have an apprenticeship, it was Sasuke.

The last Uchiha in Konoha spent most of his time training, honing his skills to get closer to his goal of bringing that man to justice for his crimes, making him Rookie of the Year. No one in the class could compare to him when it came to sparring or throwing shuriken and kunai; he was the best. It still didn't explain why the dead last was getting special training outside of class and Sasuke wasn't.

In his eyes, Naruto was the type of ninja who would get killed in his first serious mission. The blond didn't put enough effort into studying, didn't take his training seriously, and couldn't be bothered to stay still in class; he wasn't going to get very far, if he even graduated from the Academy.

How, exactly, had he landed a sensei before getting his hitai-ate? The question still boggled his mind, especially after the latest prank he pulled.

Never had Sasuke expected bombs filled with orange paint, taking him by surprise when they went off, not allowing him a second to look for cover or a way to get out of their range; in a way, it made him realize he wouldn't have been able to deflect an enemy's attack. However, as he made a mental note to train his speed, someone he had never seen before entered the classroom.

The ninja — he couldn't be anything else since he made no sound opening the door or walking — seemed young, no more than twenty or so. Sasuke couldn't be sure of what rank he was since he wasn't wearing a flak jacket, but the redhead had don on the black uniform that was standard for shinobi, though he wasn't wearing a hitai-ate either.

All in all, the guy didn't look particularly imposing in Sasuke's opinion.

Naruto, like usual, became loud when he saw the shinobi, presenting him to their sensei. Compared to the blond, however, at least Harada Kazuki had better manners.

Sasuke ignored his classmates in favor of studying the redhead. There was something about him that the young Uchiha couldn't put his finger on; it might have been the fact that, like Naruto, the ninja had blue eyes. However, he ignored that — many people had the same eye color, after all.

"Wait, Kazuki-sensei. Iruka-sensei was going to test our Henge no Jutsus!"

The blond's demand brought Sasuke out of his musings.

The dark-haired boy almost scoffed out loud; as if Naruto could make a proper Bunshin.

To his surprise, Kazuki just sighed in resignation before he motioned for Naruto with his hand.

"I can still take him with me after the test?"

"Of course, Harada-san. We will be done for the day after they show their progress with the jutsu."

Iruka called on them in alphabetical order starting with Aburame Shino.

The minutes passed and, with them, every single one of his classmates.

When his name was called, Sasuke, as was expected of him, performed the jutsu flawlessly. However, it was when Naruto was called on that the class went silent — even the lazy kid with the pineapple hair was wide awake and paying attention.

"Here I go! Henge!"

A puff of smoke cleared, leaving in the place where the dead last had been a perfect copy of the redheaded ninja.

Everyone was silent. No one could believe Naruto had pulled that off; he had never before been able to make a henge — all of his tries before weren't worth mentioning.

Just who was this man that, in a day, had the dead last doing jutsu as if the blond had been performing them all his life. Sasuke looked at the redhead in a new light.

"How was that, Iruka-sensei!" Exclaimed the blond, stopping the jutsu.

The chunin was speechless, his mouth hanging low on his face. Like the rest, he couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing.

"Na-Naruto," Iruka swallowed, trying to get his vocal cords to work properly it seemed, "how did you do that?" Sasuke wanted to know that himself. Even if Naruto was a genius (which he was not) there was no way he had been able to perfect the Henge no Jutsu in a day.

The blond rubbed the back of his head, a big smile on his face as if he was proud. The Uchiha mentally snorted; as if Naruto should feel proud of being able to do a jutsu everyone else had mastered months ago.

"Kazuki-sensei taught me chakra control yesterday and had me practice a lot." Was the answer the kid gave.

Chakra control? That wasn't something they had been taught in the Academy.

"You're still building more chakra than what you use." Came the dry remark from the man behind him.

Naruto pouted as he turned to look at the redhead. Harada-san had his arms crossed over his chest and had a blank face through the ordeal, as if nothing impressed him. In the Uchiha's opinion, if Harada-san could be impressed by Academy kids doing Henges then he wouldn't have raised Sasuke's curiosity like he had.

Iruka-sensei looked at the ninja with respect and awe shining through his eyes. "If I may ask, how did you manage that, Harada-san?"

Blue eyes focused on the chunin, inscrutable, "Naruto has more chakra than the average genin," The man shrugged a shoulder, as if that was common knowledge, "combine that with the zero control he had, he would have never been able to master the henge or any other jutsu."

Everyone looked at Naruto, who was rubbing the back of his head, with new eyes, even Sasuke, who soon found his eyes glued back to the redhead. If he had been able to train Naruto to that extent in just a day, then he wondered just how much he could teach Sasuke.

"He does?"

The redhead nodded, uncrossing his arms, "Now, if you'll excuse us, Naruto needs to continue his training."

With that, both of them left, Naruto trailing behind the ninja.

The lesson resumed as normal, but everyone was whispering about the ninja none of them had ever seen before, wondering about how or why he had taken Naruto on as a student. Sasuke, however, just wondered how exactly he was going to get the ninja to train him.

* * *

Naruto swam out of the Naka River, where Kazuki had taken him to train for the day, and made another batch of twenty shadow clones.

Kazuki had them fight against his own clone to practice both their taijutsu and water walking. Each time a clone dispersed or fell into the water, he would have the kid do push-ups, laps, crunches, and sit ups then try again to walk on water and spar while the clones that hadn't fallen or disappeared continued to fight the redhead's clone. So far, the longest the kid had been able to do it for had been fifteen minutes and that was definitely an improvement from when he started. Then again, Kazuki was also taking it easy on the kid; after all, this was training not a fight to the death.

The kid could now, however, make the shadow clones without smoke or sound, though he still needed to work on making them without using hand seals. His chakra control, slowly, was getting better.

Turning his head, he looked at the other batch of clones which he had reading scrolls on sealing and practicing calligraphy. The redhead had to admit the kid had gotten pretty good after a day of training; he would soon need to start him on making seals, but that would have to wait for another time.

Another batch of Kage Bunshin were learning new katas his own shadow clone was teaching them, correcting their stances in the process. Meanwhile, a few meters away, another clone taught the blonds how to accurately throw kunai, shuriken, and senbon at fixed targets before practicing on moving targets.

Every ten minutes the Naruto clones would dispel one by one in an interval of five minutes each in order to prevent the kid from suffering the extreme mental strain it would've caused him to dispel them all at the same time; Kazuki had learned that first hand when he had done that exact same thing.

"Naruto." He called his visibly exhausted student, standing from where he had been sitting under the shade of a tree. The blond had been at it for close to six hours now. "That's enough for today."

Panting, the kid tried to protest, "I s-still can go-o, Kazu-sensei"

Kazuki sighed, "One thing you need to understand, Naruto, is that everyone has limits; things they can do and things that they can't. How strong we are shows when we are able to accept that we alone can't do everything and rely on others. It is the reason shinobi are placed in groups of three, to support each other where the other is lacking. Just because you've reached your limit for today doesn't mean you'd failed in any way." No one said anything about not preparing the kid for the genin exam, in Kazuki's defense. And maybe, it would give the one who had been spying on them for a few hours now something to think about.

"Ha-hai, sensei."

He repressed another sigh, looking heavenwards. Naruto was so tired, he probably hadn't gotten a thing Kazuki had said.

"Come on kid, let's get you something to eat."

However, Naruto couldn't make it two steps without collapsing. In less than a second, Kazuki ran forward, preventing the blond from connecting with the ground. He made sure Naruto was secure on his back before carrying him home.

* * *

After making sure the kid was in bed (dry clothes on— he had woken Naruto long enough for him to change) and left food, Kazuki left, locking the door behind him — securing the apartment with seals and placing his version of the Hiraishin in the process just in case.

The redhead wasn't surprised when the person he saw waiting outside for him was none other than Uchiha Sasuke. The younger version of his friend had been following them — him — since Kazuki had taken Naruto to the Naka River.

Kazuki put on his best impassive face on, not letting an inkling of the turmoil of emotions currently warring inside of him be seen through his eyes as he observed the 'last' Uchiha.

The kid had taken a shower and changed his ruined clothes if the lack of orange was any indication. The redhead mentally pouted; he had liked how the color looked on the Uchiha.

A moment of silence passed. Kazuki could clearly see Sasuke examining him, though his face was blank; the kid had no experience in how to be subtle and not let his emotions show, especially for experienced ninja to read.

Pretty quickly the redhead grew tired of whatever it was that the child version of his Sasuke was trying to accomplish.

Should he just walk away or say something?

If he walked away, Sasuke would just continue to follow him; the kid's pride would be stung though since he—at this point— thought he deserved to be taken seriously just because he was the last of his clan, not to mention Kazuki would be seen as a snob… maybe.

If he said something, then he would (probably) be seen just as another one of the ninjas who kissed the Uchiha's ass.

Kazuki walked away.

Sure enough, the dark-haired kid followed him.

It was slightly unnerving for the ninja to have the younger counterpart of his best friend follow him around — _just like he did when Sasuke came back_.

Kazuki had a theory of why this Sasuke was following him, though, and it definitely didn't include protecting him.

No, this Sasuke wanted power. Revenge. He wanted to be strong enough to kill Itachi, avenge his traitorous family.

Was Kazuki going to help him with that? He wasn't sure.

One thing he knew for certain was that he couldn't let Sasuke join Orochimaru.

The Sannin posed a threat to every single person he loved and, no matter how good his intentions were, the snake had continued his experiments on shinobi during the war. 'To create a weapon strong enough to defeat Madara' he had claimed. Any forgiveness Kazuki had granted him had gone down the drain once the former blond had discovered the reason their side had been losing more and more allies. Not even Tsunade had made a move to stop him from killing her former teammate.

Kazuki looked over the village from the top of the Hokage mountain. It had always been one of his favorite places to go to think and relax; the height advantage allowing him to see everything and provided a secure place to rest even though he didn't sleep there.

"Why have you been following me?" He finally asked without turning around.

Sasuke didn't move from his spot a few paces behind him.

"You made Naruto, the dead last of the whole Academy, learn in a day what Iruka-sensei has been trying to teach him for years." Was the monotonous response, as if it was something obvious Kazuki should have known. And he did, but he wasn't about to tell the kid that.

"I watched how you trained him," continued the raven-head, as if Kazuki hadn't known he had been there the whole time, "I want you to train me."

This had been what the redhead feared.

What was he going to do?

The answer was glaringly obvious, but he wasn't about to give in without a fight. After all, Sasuke hadn't made things easy for him either.

"You do realize you'll be graduating tomorrow and will be getting a jonin sensei who will teach you?"

"I do, but I don't know his training methods. I don't know if he would push me to my limits like you push Naruto."

Turning to take in the kid who remained stone still, Kazuki raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"You taught Naruto things not even the Academy teaches, you realized why he kept failing at performing the basic jutsus and fixed it, even his taijutsu is better now because of you."

Those were valid points, Kazuki thought, "Naruto wants to be Hokage when he gets older, but I have another reason for training him. Tell me, Uchiha Sasuke, besides becoming stronger, what is your reason for training?"

The young Uchiha was silent, but finally responded after a moment.

"I want to become stronger than the man who killed my entire clan and bring him to justice."

Kazuki tilted his head to the side, eyebrow still raised, "So you want to kill him."

"Yes." Was the kid's immediate answer.

"Hm."

Kazuki let out a small sigh. This had been what he had feared, he had two options only now and he knew which one he was going to take; he would have to think of something else when the time came.

Straightening, he gave a small nod, "Meet me tomorrow at training ground seven. Pass the message to Naruto too when you see him."

He shunshin'd away, leaving the kid staring at the space where he had been.

* * *

Hey everyone!

Thanks kyuzi4869 for letting me know about the Henge/Bunshin test mixup. Like promised, I got it fixed :D

Thank you everyone for the awesome reviews! I really appreciate them and sorry if I haven't gotten around to replying to someone.

My new Naruto story is called "Of Red Eyes And Shadows", which revolves around an OC reborn into the Uchiha family with Itachi as her twin. I'd really appreciate it if you guys checked it out :)

Like always, thank you for your support! :D


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